THE 


IMei'M^  -'Maitiir  e 


AND  THE 


©I  Grace 


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BL  240  .M55  1919 
Miller,  Joshua  Houser . 
The  Bible  of  nature  and 
Bible  of  grace 


the 


THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

and 

THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE 


■v^ 


The  Bible  of  Nature 

and 

The  Bible  of  Grace 


\By 
JOSHUA  H.*MILLER,  Ph.D. 


Boston 
THE    ROXBURGH    PUBLISHING    COMPANY,    INC. 


Copyrighted  1919 

By  Joshua  H.  Miller 

Bights  Beserved. 


To  My  Wife, 

Anna  Levering  Miller, 

And   to  ray   Children, 

Theodore  Kenneth,  and  Adeline  Elizabeth, 

This  Book  I  Lovingly  Dedicate. 

J.  H.   Miller. 


"I  have  learned  to  look  on  Nature,  not  as  in  the  hour 

Of  thoughtless  youth;  but  hearing  oftentimes 
The  sad,  still  voice  of  humanity, 

Not  harsh  or  grating,  though  of  ample  power 
To  chasten  and  subdue.     And  I  have  felt 

A  presence  that  disturbs  me  with  the  joy 
Of  elevated  thoughts;  a  sense  sublime 

Of  something  far  more  deeply  interfused. 
Whose  dwelling  is  in  the  lights  of  setting  suns, 

And  the  round  oceans  and  the  living  air, 
And  the  blue  sky,  and  in  the  mind  of  man, 

A  motion  and  a  spirit  that  impels 
All  thinking  things;  all  objects  of  all  thoughts, 

And  rolls  through  all  things. 

^'Therefore  am  I  still  a  lover  of  the  meadows  and  the 
woods  and  mountains, 

And  this  prayer  I  make, 
Knowing  that  Nature  never  did  betray 

The  heart  that  loved  her.    'Tis  her  privilege 
Through,  all  the  years  of  this  one  life  to  lead 

From  joy  to  joy;  for  she  can  so  inform 
The  mind  that  is  within  us — so  impress 

With  quietness  and  beauty,  and  so  feed 
With  lofty  thoughts, — that  neither  evil  tongues, 

Rash  judgments,  nor  the  sneers  of  evil  men, 
Nor  greetings,  where  no  kindness  is. 

Nor  all  the  dreary  intercourse  of  daily  life. 
Shall  e'er  prevail  against  us,  or  disturb 

Our  cheerful  faith.*' 

William  Wordsworth. 


PREFACE 


This  book  does  not  pretend  to  exhaust  the 
subject;  on  the  contrary,  I  have  sought  to  be 
as  brief  as  possible  and  yet  try  to  make  clear 
to  the  average  reader  that  the  Bible  of  Na- 
ture and  the  Bible  of  Grace  must  have  a  com- 
mon author,  as  is  manifest  in  their  harmony. 

There  seems  much  need  in  our  day  to  re- 
affirm that  since  ever  the  world  began,  and 
so  long  as  heaven  and  earth  shall  last,  there 
never  has  been,  and  never  will  be,  a  fact  to 
prove  that  there  is  no  God,  or  that  the  soul  is 
not  immortal,  or  that  Jesus  Christ  did  not 
come  to  earth  as  God-man  to  die  for  our  sins ; 
and  there  is  no  fact  which  proves  that  there 
is  no  resurrection  of  the  dead,  and  that  the 
sick  cannot  be  healed  by  prayer,  for  the  rea- 
son that  facts  have  no  negative  proof-power. 
Facts  by  themselves  are,  like  the  unpointed 
Hebrew  consonant  writing,  hollow,  colorless 
forms,  without  any  meaning.  They  only  be- 
come alive  with  color  and  sound  by  the  addi- 
tion of  the  vowels. 

Because  to  so  many  the  Book  of  Nature  is 
like  the  unpointed  Hebrew  consonant  writ- 
ing, for  them  I  want  to  add  the  vowels  of  the 


PREFACE 

Book  of  Grace  and  thus  give  color  and  life 
and  meaning  to  all  truth.  I  want  to  express 
my  sincere  conviction  in  a  living  and  personal 
God  who  is  manifest  alike  both  in  natural  and 
revealed  theology.  Their  history,  laws, 
poetry,  prophecy  and  Gospel  tell  that  the  God 
of  Nature  is  the  God  of  the  Bible,  and  vice 
versa. 

I  wish  to  show  to  my  readers  that  the  con- 
ception of  the  universe  which  is  most  logical, 
most  harmonious,  and  most  in  accordance 
with  facts,  is  the  conception  of  the  Christian 
— it  is  more  scientific  than  all  systems,  ma- 
terialistic and  atheistic,  which  often  confound 
fact  with  explanation. 

I  wish  also  to  express  my  sincere  regard 
for  the  facts  which  the  truly  great  men  of  the 
past  have  given  us  from  their  study  of  na- 
ture's book,  and  encourage  every  man  to  pon- 
der the  same;  for  whoever  says  he  lost  God 
through  studying  Nature's  Book  never  really 
possessed  Him. 

Joshua  H.  Miller. 

Irwin,  Pa. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I. 
Two  Books. 

CHAPTER  n. 
Chronology — The  March  of  the  Centuries. 

CHAPTER  III. 
Creation — Its  History  in  Nature. 

CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Flood — Its  History  in  Nature. 

CHAPTER  V. 
The  Decalogue — In  Natural  History. 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Psalms  in  Nature. 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Prophecy  in  Nature. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Gospel  in  Nature. 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Conclusion : 

(a)  The  Alleged  Controversy  Between  Sci- 

ence and  Religion. 

(b)  The  Greatest  Scientists  Were  Religious 

Men. 


■  CHAPTER  I 

Two  Books 

There  are  two  books  that  all  of  us  should 
read,  and  we  should  read  them  with  dili- 
gence and  care;  for  they  contain  all  truth 
man  may  know  from  the  animalcule  in  the 
sod  to  the  seraph  on  the  throne.  These 
two  books  are  the  Bible  of  Nature  and  the 
Bible  of  God's  word.  They  have  a 
common  author,  whose  character  is 
written  on  every  page.  To  observe  their 
common  authorship  is  not  optional  with  us 
as  rational  beings,  but  obligatory.  We  are 
commanded  to  ''Consider  the  lilies  of  the 
field  how  they  grow."  We  are  told  to  "Be- 
hold the  fowls  of  the  air."  We  are  thereby 
encouraged,  jea,  admonished  to  study  the 
sciences  of  Botany  and  Ornithology.  The 
great  Teacher,  as  was  His  custom,  hereby 
intended  to  declare  a  universal  principle. 
He  intended  to  say  to  you  and  me  that  it  is 
well  for  us  not  only  to  read  the  chapter  on 
Botany  and  the  chapter  on  Ornithology  but 
all  other  chapters  contained  in  the  great 
Book  of  Nature;  that  Christians  every- 
where— whether  they  are  in  the  university 
or  on  the  farm — should  feel  it  an  imperative 
duty,  or,  should  I  say,  a  privilege,  to  acquire 
a  knowledge  of  those  wonderful  laws  which 


12  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

govern  the  universe,  and  to  study  as  well  the 
composition  of  a  minute  grain  of  sand  as 
that  of  a  magnificent  sun ;  the  structure  of 
a  tiny  flower  or  of  a  banyan  tree ;  the  life 
and  habits  of  an  amoeba,  or  those  of  a  saurian. 
Look  where  you  will  in  nature  and  you  will 
find  it  pregnant  with  thought — thoughts  for 
a  botanical  library — thoughts  for  an  em- 
bryological  library — thoughts  for  a  paleon- 
tological  library;  and  thus  we  might  con- 
tinue to  multiply. 

Men  have  busied  themselves  with  the  text 
of  Nature's  sacred  scriptures,  and  have 
given  us  a  large  part  of  the  libraries  of  the 
world.  But  if  they  had  translated  into 
books  all  the  thoughts  that  nature  contains, 
hidden  and  revealed,  "I  suppose  that  even 
the  world  itself  could  not  contain  the  books 
that  should  be  written." 

The  ancients  did  not  realize  the  unity  of 
authorship.  Their  science  consisted  of  iso- 
lated facts  and  discordant  laws.  Was  there 
any  wonder?  They  believed  in  many  gods. 
Modern  science  has  come  to  realize  unity 
of  thought — a  harmonius  oneness — one  God 
as  the  author  of  life.  (And  all  stability  of 
character  rests  on  the  contemplation  of 
changeless  unity.) 

Twenty-six  letters  of  the  alphabet  spell 
out  all  the  books  that  are  written  in  the 
English  language.  Compare  this  with  the 
25,000  characters   of  the   Chinese   and   you 


AND  THE  BEBLE  OF  GRACE  13 

will  not  wonder  at  the  advancement  of 
the  Aryan  characters  as  compared  with 
that  of  the  Turanian. 

If  you  are  acquainted  with  the  permuta- 
tions of  numbers,  it  is  not  strange,  after  all, 
that  by  means  of  some  eighty  elements  you 
may  be  able  to  spell  the  myriad  forms  of 
plant  and  animal  life.  For  example,  con- 
sider the  numbers  as  elements  and  observe 
the  combinations  in  the  accompanying  dia- 
gram. 

I        I       I       2  3  I        I       3       I       2       I 

I       2       I       3  2  3       I       I       I       I       I 

I       3       I       I  I  2       I       2       I       3       I 

Thus  you  observe  that  six  columns  of  dif- 
ferent combinations  can  be  made  with  three 
figures.  The  possible  permutations  of  any 
number  of  things  or  elements  may  be  easily 
ascertained  by  .  multiplying  consecutively 
the  figures  from  one  upwards,  thus — i  x  2  x 
3 — 6,  as  in  the  diagram.  The  addition  of 
only  one  element  or  number  greatly  in- 
creases the  number  of  possible  variations  in 
the  order;  for,  while  three  elements  could  be 
placed  in  six  different  ways,  seven  elements 
could  be  arranged  in  5040  orders;  1x2x3x4 
X5x6x7— 5040. 

Thus  the  Yale  lock  makers,  by  such  a 
simple  device  as  a  screw  and  fifteen  bits, 
could  so  change  their  combinations  as  to 
produce  1,307,674,368,000  varieties  of  locks; 


14  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

more  than  enough  to  supply  every  human 
being  the  world  over  with  a  different  key. 

Perhaps  this  simple  illustration  will  help 
us  to  understand  the  possibilities  for  the  ele- 
ments to  unite  in  such  a  way  as  to  produce 
the  forms  "ad  infinitum"  all  around  us. 
What  a  volume  of  thought  this  earth  con- 
tains if  only  we  can  interpret  the  combina- 
tions of  letters !  On  nature's  first  page 
we  meet  with  a  monosyllabic  word — yet  it 
is  a  word  with  a  fixed  meaning.  The  ar- 
rangement of  the  letters  is  a  fact  to  be  ex- 
plained. We  see  this  word  often  occurring 
in  nature ;  and  wherever  it  occurs  it  is  al- 
ways spelled  in  the  same  way.  Its  letters 
- — chromosomes  in  the  cell — (that  which 
causes  the  cell  to  bring  forth  according  to 
its  kind)  are  always  the  same  in  each  spe- 
cific word  of  life.  In  the  opening  sentences 
of  the  Bible  of  Nature  we  read  other  words, 
formed  of  similar  letters,  but  longer  and 
more  complex ;  they  also  are  always  spelled 
correctly  with  their  definite  number  of  let- 
ters and  syllables,  of  chromosomes  and 
cells. 

We  turn  tke  pages  and  find  that  these 
words  of  nature  are  not  single  and  detached. 
Behold !  they  arrange  themselves  in  certain 
relations  to  each  other  for  which  they  seem 
to  be  intended.  When  we  examine  more 
closely,  we  find  that  they  are  mutually 
adapted ;   and  thus   arranged,  a   new   order 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  15 

appears — a  sentence  is  composed.  And  then 
naturally,  sentence  follows  sentence  co-or- 
dinate or  complex.  The  separate  sentences 
fall  into  groups;  we  mark  the  paragraphs 
on  nature's  pages;  one  leads  up  to  the 
next;  each  part  takes  meaning  from  that 
which  precedes,  and  enlarges  the  idea  on 
the  next  page.  Like  the  Bible  of  God's 
Word,  so  with  the  Bible  of  Nature,  we 
can  understand  no  sentence  or  paragraph 
aright  if  we  read  it  out  of  its  connection 
and  relation.  For  these  larger  paragraphs 
and  chapters  belong  to  some  great  argu- 
ment running  through  all  the  words  and 
sentences,  evidently  looking  beyond  our 
present  understanding  toward  some  vast 
system  of  thought.  St.  Augustine  calls  the 
creation  the  poem  of  Divine  ideas.  We  have 
not  yet  learned  all  of  that  poem.  But 
though  "we  know  only  in  part,"  yet  we 
know.  All  the  verses  and  paragraphs  we 
have  learned  have  intelligence  and  tell  of 
an  author.  And  the  meanings  we  have 
spelled  out  are  enough  to  show  clearly  that 
they  belong  together,  fashioned  by  one 
author  to  constitute  the  Bible  of  Nature. 

Macfie  says:  "It  is  very  strange  that 
a  little  association  of  carbon,  oxygen  and 
nitrogen  should  have  the  power  of  adding 
to  their  number  and  it  is  stranger  still  that 
the  addition  should  take  such  shape,  and 
produce   such  a  mechanism  as  a  multicel- 


16  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

lular  organism.  If  a  brick  were  to  grow  into 
a  pile  of  bricks  and  if  the  bricks  were  to  ar- 
range themselves  into  the  form  of  a  Cathe- 
dral, what  a  miracle  it  would  seem;  yet 
every  day  single  cells  grow  into  heaps  of 
cells  and  the  heaps  of  cells  arrange  them- 
selves into  trees,  and  flowers,  and  birds, 
and  beasts  and  men,  and  no  one  seems  par- 
ticularly surprised." 

Only  twenty-six  letters  of  the  alphabet 
were  required  to  convey  to  us  all  the 
thoughts  in  the  Bible  of  God's  Word.  Let- 
ters were  so  arranged  as  to  constitute  a 
book — the  Bible.  And  the  harmony  and 
intimate  connection  subsisting  between 
all  the  parts  of  scripture  (notwithstanding 
the  fact  that  the  various  parts  were  penned 
by  different  persons  and  at  very  different 
times)  tell  of  an  editor-in-chief — of  one 
whose  mind  and  will  and  spirit  should  be 
revealed. 

Think!  How  often  does  it  happen  that 
contemporary  writers  contradict  each  other 
in  relating  a  fact  which  has  happened  in 
their  own  time  and  within  the  sphere  of 
their  own  knowledge !  But  in  the  Scrip- 
tures there  is  neither  dissent  nor  contradic- 
tion. The  Scriptures  do  not  consist  of  a 
book  compiled  by  many  hands  acting  in  the 
same  age  in  collusion  or  collaboration.  Most 
of  the  writers  lived  at  very  different  times, 
and  in  distant  places,  through  the  long  space 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  17 

of  about  sixteen  hundred  years  so  that  no 
collusion  could  be  possible;  and  yet  their 
narrations  agree  with  and  mutually  sup- 
port  each  other. 

The  writers,  men  of  different  education, 
faculties  and  occupations — prophets,  evan- 
gelists, apostles — notwithstanding  the  di- 
versity of  time  and  place,  the  variety  of 
their  subject  matter — consisting  of  myster- 
ies of  providence,  as  well  as  of  mysteries 
of  faith,  all  are  uniformly  in  accord 
in  carrying  out  one  consistent  plan.  All 
constantly  propose  the  same  invariable 
truth,  flowing  from  the  same  fountain 
through  different  channels.  Can  you  find 
one  writer  controverting  the  statements  or 
opinions  of  his  predecessor?  One  historian 
who  disputes  any  fact  which  another  has 
stated?  Is  there  in  the  prophets  any  dis- 
crepancy in  doctrines,  precepts  or  predic- 
tions? However  they  may  vary  in  style 
or  in  manner  of  illustration  the  sentiment, 
the  doctrine  and  the  morality  are  always 
the  same.  In  their  predictions  some  ex- 
ceed others  in  particularity  and  clearness, 
but  there  is  no  contradiction. 

The  same  is  true  of  the  New  Testament. 
The  doctrines  of  Christianity  harmonize. 
One  writer  may  enlarge  upon  and  ex- 
plain what  another  has  said — he  may  add 
to  his  account  and  carry  it  further  but 
he   never   contradicts    him.     Whence   then 


18  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

arises  this  harmony  of  Scripture?  Had  the 
writers  been  under  no  peculiar  divine  in- 
fluence they  would  have  reasoned  and  specu- 
lated like  others,  and  their  writings  would 
have  opposed  each  other.  But  if  they  were 
inspired — if  they  all  wrote  and  spoke  the 
will  and  counsel  of  one  another,  then  is  this 
harmony  accounted  for. 

And  as  there  is  unity  of  thought  and  har- 
mony in  the  Bible  of  God's  Word  and  unity 
of  thought  and  harmony  in  the  Bible  of 
Nature,  so  they  in  turn  reveal  such  har- 
mony as  to  indicate  a  common  authorship. 
These  two  books,  like  the  two  cherubs 
(Exod.  25:20)  look  steadfastly  towards 
each  other,  and  towards  the  mercy-seat 
which  they  encompass. 

The  Eternal  Spirit  expresses  his  arche- 
typal thought  in  the  physical  universe.  This 
is  the  primitive  medium  of  revelation,  the 
first  word  of  God.  The  Book  of  nature  is 
the  primer,  in  which  he  sets  his  children 
first  to  spell  out  his  name  and  to  read  what 
he  is.  Therefore  in  all  languages  the  names 
of  spiritual  things  continue  to  indicate  the 
primitive   medium  of  revelation. 

But  if  Nature  is  God's  first  word  it  is 
not  His  only  word.  If  it  is  the  primer  for 
His  children,  it  is  not  the  means  or  medium 
through  which  His  highest  thoughts  are 
expressed  to  the  full-grown  man.  The 
character  of  the  message  must  dictate  the 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  19 

nature  of  the  medium  through  which  it 
shall  be  communicated.  If  nature  is  God's 
first  word  it  is  not  His  only  word.  If  it  is 
the  primer  for  His  children,  then  surely 
there  is  another  book  for  those  in  the  full 
stature  of  manhood.  This  medium  of  ex- 
pression is  a  universal  principle,  full  of  in- 
terest. In  literature  we  call  it  "style."  The 
common  thought  must  be  clothed  in  very 
simple,  familiar  and  homely  words.  The 
grander  and  loftier  conception  creates  for 
itself  a  worthy  vesture  and  moves  in  the 
glory  of  some  picturesque  and  stately 
phrase.  Some  things  can  be  properly  told 
only  in  prose,  others  only  in  verse,  and 
finally  you  pass  beyond  what  language  has 
the  power  to  express  at  all. 

What  is  the  meaning  of  art  and  of  music? 
There  is  that  which  the  instrument  can  tell 
which,  after  the  instrument  has  ceased,  you 
know  has  been  said,  of  which  you  are  sure 
that  while  you  sat  and  listened  it  was  be- 
coming your  possession,  yet  which  you  are 
powerless  to  give  an  account  of  in  any  way 
adequate  or  fit. 

Other  messages  come  to  you  through  the 
marble  or  canvas,  and  others  still  through 
nature  which  is  God's  book  of  Art — His 
great  orchestral  multitudinous  unity  of 
voices  which  speak  to  ears  attuned  to  listen, 
things  which  they  alone  can  hear.  And  with- 
in the  region  of  each  special  art  there  are 


20  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

adaptations.  The  drum  and  bugle  may  give 
out  the  wild  and  stirring  summons  to  the 
battle.  The  stately  organ,  the  subtle  violin 
or  harp,  must  lend  their  voices  for  the  rich- 
er and  more  pathetic  stories  which  the  soul 
can  hear.  There  is  that  which  you  must  carve 
in  ivory  and  that  which  you  must  hew  in 
granite.  Wax  cannot  bring  the  revelation 
which  can  shine  forth  from  marble.  The 
true  artist  is  he  in  whom  the  feeling  of  the 
fitness  of  message  and  medium  for  one 
another  is  perfect.  For  the  message  is 
dumb  without  its  true  medium  of  expres- 
sion, and  the  medium  without  its  worthy 
message  is  insignificant  and  weak.  In 
these  two  truths  lie  the  secret  of  the  fail- 
ure of  all  that  tries  to  be  art  and  is  not,  and 
the  secret  of  the  success  of  all  that  is  finally 
and  truly  art. 

We  can  well  see  where  such  a  principle 
will  make  its  highest  exhibition,  for  the 
highest  and  finest  element  in  the  world's  life 
is  human  nature.  Therefore  it  will  be 
through  the  medium  of  human  natures  that 
the  loftiest  and  completest  revelations  will 
be  given.  This  the  ancient  Greeks  believed. 
That  which  could  not  be  spoken  in  words, 
nor  breathed  through  music,  nor  intimated 
in  the  subtle  harmonies  of  nature,  nor  paint- 
ed on  canvas,  nor  cut  in  brass  will  be  told 
where  only  it  can  be  told,  in  man.  A  human 
life  will  be  God's  voice  to  utter  His  highest, 


AKD  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  21 

His  divinest  truth.  This  is  what  made  the 
Incarnation  a  living  epistle.  ''The  Heavens 
declare  the  glory  of  God,"  and  *'God,  w^ho, 
at  sundry  times  and  in  divers  manners^ 
spake  in  the  time  past  unto  the  fathers  by 
the  prophets,  hath  in  these  last  days  spoken 
unto  us  by  His  Son."  The  highest  human- 
ity is  required  to  bring  the  highest  mes- 
sage of  Divinity.  The  tidings  w^hich  the 
stars  and  trees  bring  are  good  and  inspiring, 
but  they  are  not  the  only  truths.  There 
are  other  truths  concerning  a  loving  God 
they  cannot  tell. 

All  science  rests  on  the  assumption  that 
nature  is  intelligible.  It  finds  all  things  in 
nature  to  be  symbols  and  it  interprets  them. 
It  deciphers  nature  and  learns  the  thought 
Vv'hich  it  expresses  precisely  as  Champollion 
deciphered  the  hieroglyphics  on  the  obe- 
lisks of  Egypt.  If  those  strange  letters 
on  the  monuments  had  not  first  been  sym- 
bols of  intelligent  thought,  no  intelligence 
could  have  found  intelligence  in  them. 

"When  the  sculptor  develops  his  Apollo 
or  his  Venus  from  the  quarried  marble,  it 
is  his  own  creation  and  has  his  image 
stamped  on  it ;  but  the  truth  which  the  man 
of  science  extracts  has  an  absolute  charac- 
ter of  its  own,  which  no  power  of  genius 
can  transform,  and  which  is  neither  attribu- 
table to  accident  nor  born  of  human 
parentage.     It   pervades   the  meanest  chip 


22  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

of  Stone  which  the  artist  rejects."  (Prof. 
Benjamin  Pierce.)  If  you  should  ask  what 
kind  of  ideas  are  in  nature  I  would  answer 
a  whole  Bible  of  ideas ;  for  if  you  know  na- 
ture at  all  you  are  aware  of  the  fact  that 
there  is  much  that  is  history,  much  that 
is  law^  much  that  is  poetry,  much  that  is 
Gospel  and  much  that  is  prophecy.  Are  the 
scientists,  then,  also  among  the  prophets? 
Comte  goes  so  far  as  to  insist  that  the 
power  of  foreseeing  and  foretelling  phenom- 
ena is  characteristic  of  science  and  that  all 
knowledge  which  does  not  reach  this  power 
is  unworthy  of  the  name  of  science.  We 
realize  that  Physical  science  has  attained 
this  power  in  many  cases.  It  knows  so  ex- 
actly the  laws  under  which  the  forces  of 
nature  are  ordered  that  it  can  foretell  events 
ages  distant  in  the  future  to  the  fraction 
of  a  second. 

The  scientist  who  discovers  or  invents 
is  a  prophet.  The  mind  forms  its  hypothesis 
of  what  must  be;  and  then  goes  out  into 
nature  and  finds  that  it  is  so.  The  genius 
of  the  discoverer  creates  a  prophetic  pic- 
ture and  says :  Nature  must  be  so  and  so ; 
then  he  goes  out  into  nature  and  finds  his 
conception  there  already  realized  in  nature 
ages  before  he  had  thought  of  it;  and  yet 
a  pure  intellectual  conception.  This  is  al- 
most the  universal  history  of  discovery;  it 
is  an  intellectual  creation,  a  prophetic  idea, 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  23 

afterwards  found  expressed  and  realized  in 
the  material  creation.  And  frequently  the 
prophecy  is  announced  many  years  before 
it  is  actually  discovered  and  verified  in  na- 
ture. Invention  is  also  prophecy.  The  in- 
ventor creates  his  machine  in  thought  be- 
fore he  realizes  it  in  actual  construction; 
and  the  steel  and  brass  and  wood,  the  water, 
the  fire,  the  electricity,  created  as  expres- 
sions of  intellectual  thought,  yield  readily  to 
the  thought  of  the  inventor,  obey  the  laws 
which  guided  him  in  creating  his  idea  and 
steadily  do  the  work  which  he  directs.  And 
when  he  investigates  nature  he  finds  in  it 
similar  contrivances  doing  the  same  kind  of 
work  according  to  the  same  laws.  And  of- 
ten it  is  the  contrivance  in  nature  which 
suggests  the  invention  to  man.  The  divine 
art  in  nature  is  the  model  for  human^  art. 

True,  we  do  not  always  read  aright. 
Theologians  should  recognize  the  truth 
that  the  discovery  of  facts  may  necessitate 
the  correction  of  their  opinions  in  order  to 
adjust  them  to  the  newly  discovered  facts, 
laws  or  truths.  If  a  person  holds  a  theo- 
logical doctrine  which  obliges  him  to  ob- 
ject to  vaccination  or  to  lightning  rods,  as 
interfering  with  God's  Providence,  evi- 
dently he  is  required  to  change — not  the 
text  of  Scripture,  but  the  interpretation,  the 
reading  thereof. 

Likewise  many  conflicting  theories  have 


24  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

been  advanced  regarding  the  Bible  of  Na- 
ture. In  the  last  century  the  French  Scien- 
tific Association  printed  a  list  of  eighty 
theories  of  geology  that  had  been  believed 
in  and  afterwards  rejected.  Lyell,  the  Sci- 
entist, announces  fifty  theories  regarding 
nature  that  had  been  adopted  and  after- 
wards rejected.  These  theories  do  not  mili- 
tate against  the  Books.  The  texts  remain  un- 
changed and  still  contain  their  everlasting 
truths.  And  truth  in  one  department  of 
knowledge  can  never  conflict  with  truth  in 
another.  Conflicting  theories  only  say  that 
men  have  not  been  reading  the  text  aright. 
From  the  religious  viewpoint  the  all-im- 
portant thing  for  us  to  do  is  not  to  read 
theology  into  science  or  science  into  the- 
ology; but  to  read  theology  out  of  both 
alike,  that  is,  out  of  the  Bible  of  Nature 
and  the  Bible  of  God's  Word. 

That  is  what  Sir  Thomas  Browne  did  as 
he  tells  us  in  his  ''Religio  Medici."  "Thus 
there  are  two  books  from  which  I  collect 
my  divinity ;  besides  that  written  one  of 
God,  another  of  his  servant  nature,  that  uni- 
versal and  public  manuscript  that  lies  ex- 
posed unto  the  eyes  of  all,  those  that  never 
saw  Him  in  the  one  have  discovered  Him 
in  the  other ;  this  was  the  scripture  and 
theology  of  the  heathens ;  the  natural  mo- 
tion of  the  sun  made  them  more  admire  Him 
than  its  supernatural   station  did  the  chil- 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  25 

dren  of  Israel ;  the  ordinary  effects  of  nature 
wrought  more  admiration  in  them  than  in 
the  other  of  his  miracles.  Surely  the  hea- 
thens knew  better  how  to  join  and  read  these 
mystical  letters  than  we  Christians,  who 
cast  a  more  careless  eye  on  these  common 
hieroglyphics,  and  disdain  to  suck  divinity 
from  the  flowers  of  nature." 


'TIME" 

I  saw  Time  in  his  workshop  carving  faces; 
Scattered  around  his  tools  lay,  blunting  griefs. 
Sharp  cares  that  cut  out  deeply  in  reliefs 
Of  light  and  shade;  sorrows  that  smooth  the  traces 
Of  what  were  smiles.    Nor  yet  without  fresh  graces 
His  handiwork,  for  ofttimes  rough  were  ground 
And   polished,  oft  the   pinched  made   smooth  and 
round : 
The  calm  look,  too,  the  impetuous  fire  replaces. 
Long  time  I  stood  and  watched:   with  hideous  grin 
He  took  each  heedless  face  between  his  knees. 
And  graved  and  scarred  and  bleached  with  boiling 
tears. 
I  wondering  turned  to  go,  when,  lo'  my  skin 
Fell  crumpled,  and  in  glass  my  own  face  sees 
Itself   all  changed,  scarred,   careworn,  white   with 
years. 

— F.  G.  Scott. 


THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 


CHAPTER  II 

Clironology— The  March  of  the  Centuries. 
"Consider  the  years  of  many  generations."— Deut.  32:7. 

As  an  army  is  divided  into  brigades  and 
regiments  and  companies,  and  as,  when  they 
observe  this  order,  their  march  and  their 
tread  are  majestic,  so  the  time  of  the  world's 
existence  is  divided  into  an  army,  divinely 
commanded.  The  eras  are  the  brigades, 
the  centuries  are  the  regiments,  and  the 
years    are   the   companies.      Forward ! 

While  obeying  the  text,  "Consider  the  years 
of  many  generations,"  I  propose  to  write 
of  Chronology — The  March  of  the  Cen- 
turies. We  make  a  distinction  between 
time  and  eternity,  and  chronology  has  been 
engaged  in  the  sublime  work  of  dividing 
up  this  portion  of  eternity  that  we  call  time 
into  compartments,  and  in  putting  events 
into  the  proper  compartments. 

However,  as  measures  of  time  are  mere 
notions  or  ideas  of  motion  in  the  clock-work 
of  the  universe,  chronology  and  astronomy 
necessarily  go  together,  Thus,  when  we 
say  another  year  has  ended,  we  mean  that 
the  great  wheel  of  time  has  performed  an- 
other hour.  Thus  upon  its  revolutions  on 
its  axis  and  around  the  sun,  the  earth  fixes 
its  notions  of  days  and  years. 

But  there  is  another  movement  going  on 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  27 

in  this  universe  of  much  grander  and  wider 
range,  and  of  special  importance  with  re- 
gard to  chronology.  It  forms  a  sacred  clock 
whose  face  is  the  sky,  and  from  which  the 
astronomer  may  read  backward  for  thou- 
sands on  thousands  of  years  without  the 
possibility  of  confusion,  exactly  as  we  read 
the  hours  and  the  minutes  on  a  timepiece. 
It  is  what  astronomers  call  "The  procession 
of  the  equinoxes."  Remember,  there  is  a 
two-fold  year ;  one  called  the  siderial  year, 
or  the  year  of  the  stars ;  and  the  other,  the 
year  of  the  earth's  revolution  around  the 
sun.  The  former  is  a  fraction  longer  than 
the  latter.  That  is  to  say,  the  equinoxes 
in  our  ordinary  practical  year  comes  a  little 
earlier  every  time  than  the  siderial  time. 
This  precedence  in  the  equinoctial  presenta- 
tion amounts  to  about  fifty  seconds  each 
year,  and  hence  is  called  the  procession  of 
equinoxes.  It  means  that  the  setting  of  the 
stars  occurs  about  fifty  seconds  later  every 
year. 

It  was  Hipparchus,  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty  years  before  Christ,  who  first  with- 
in historic  times  noted  this  fact ;  and  since 
his  day  the  rising  and  setting  of  the  stars,  as 
compared  with  the  common  year,  has  fallen 
back  about  thirty  degrees  from  what  their 
time  was  then.  At  this  rate  of  retardation 
it  takes  about  twenty-five  thousand  and 
eight  hundred  and  sixty-eight  of  our  years 


28  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

for  this  rising  and  setting  to  come  back  to 
the  exact  point  at  which  we  began  the  cal- 
culation. We  thus  have  a  great  astronom- 
ical cycle,  less  than  a  fourth  of  which  has 
passed  since  man  was  placed  on  the  earth. 
The  cycle  furnishes  a  singularly  valuable 
means  of  noting  and  determining  remote 
dates.  Knowing  the  relative  places  of  the 
stars  which  most  plainly  mark  this  cycle, 
wte  can  tell  exactly  how  they  stood  in  any 
year  or  date  since  time  began ;  and  knowing 
how  they  stood  at  the  time  of  any  given 
event,  we  can  thus  calculate  the  precise 
year  almost  to  the  day  and  hour  in  which 
that  event  took  place. 

And  finally,  when  we  remember  that  a  day 
is  with  the  Lord  as  a  thousand  years,  and 
a  thousand  years  as  one  day,  and  couple 
with  it  the  fact  that  when  we  consider  the 
days  of  creation,  we  have  to  do  not  only 
with  the  earth,  but  with  all  the  heavenly 
bodies,  it  indicates  a  presence  for  a  siderial 
method  of  reckoning  time  over  the  days 
and  years  as  measured  by  the  earth  in  its 
rotations  and  revolutions.  In  this  creation 
of  the  worlds,  consider  the  years  of  many 
generations,  and  behold  the  stupendous 
march  of  the  centuries. 

Historical  chronology  was  at  one  time  cal- 
culated from  new  moon ;  then  from  harvest 
to  harvest.  At  this  time  the  year  was  pro- 
nounced to  be  three  hundred  and  fifty-four 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  29 

days;  then  three  hundred  and  sixty  days, 
and  not  till  a  long  time  after,  three  hun- 
dred and  sixty-five  days.  In  one  place  the 
events  vi^ere  calculated  from  the  founding 
of  Rome;  another  from  the  Olympic  games, 
but  most  universally  from  dynasties  or  the 
reigns  of  certain  kings.  The  Babylonians 
had  their  chronology,  and  the  Romans 
theirs;  the  Armenians  theirs;  and  the  Hin- 
dus theirs.  In  attempting  to  lay  a  plan  by 
which  all  questions  of  date  might  be  settled, 
and  by  which  events,  as  far  as  possible,' 
might  be  put  into  their  proper  place  in  the 
march  of  centuries,  chronology  had  to  bring 
into  its  service  the  monuments  of  Egypt 
and  the  cylinders  of  Assyria ;  the  bricks  of 
Babylon  and  the  pottery  of  Nineveh;  the 
medals  struck  at  Antioch  for  the  battle  of 
Actium,  and,  finally  all  the  hieroglyphics 
that  could  be  deciphered. 

It  was  not  until  the  sixth  cenury,  A.  D., 
that  Dionysius,  a  Roman  abbot,  proposed  to 
have  events  date  backward  and  forward 
from  the  birth  of  Christ.  He  said:  *'Let 
everything  date  from  the  birth  at  Bethlehem, 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Saviour  of  the 
World."  What  a  splendid  thought  for  man- 
kind!  What  an  excellent  thing  for  Chris- 
tianity! Forever  it  is  fixed  that  all  history 
be  dated  with  reference  to  the  birh  of 
Christ. 

This    matter   settled,    the   chronology   of 


30  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

the  Old  Testament  takes  six  steps — six 
steps  only,  but  they  are  steps  so  long  that  it 
makes  us  hold  our  breath  as  we  watch  the 
march  of  the  centuries.  Here  they  are ;  six 
gigantic  strides ;  First  from  Adam  to  Abra- 
ham; then  from  Abraham  to  the  exodus 
from  Egypt;  then  from  the  Exodus  to  the 
foundation  of  Solomon's  temple;  following 
thus  from  the  foundation  of  the  temple  to 
the  destruction  of  the  temple;  again,  from 
the  destruction  of  the  temple  to  the  return 
from  the  Babylonish  captivity  to  the  birth 
of   Christ. 

The  geneologicai  tables  in  the  fifth  and 
tenth  chapters  of  Genesis  were  not,  how- 
ever, designed  to  teach,  and  do  not  teach 
a  definite  chronology ;  but  they  serve  simply 
to  throw  emphasis  upon  the  direct  line  of 
descent  without  shedding  any  definite  light 
upon  the  length  of  that  time.  While  we 
can,  in  point  of  fact,  go  back  to  Abraham 
and  fix  dates  with  certainty,  beyond  that 
pivotal  date  the  only  thing  that  the  Bible 
attempts  to  do  is  to  fix  the  line  of  descent 
by  genealogies.  It  is  not  intended  to  tell 
us  in  scientific  terms  the  chronology  of  the 
creation  of  the  world,  but  in  religious  terms ; 
for  a  day  with  the  Lord,  as  we  have  seen 
is  as  a  thousand  years,  and  a  thousand 
years  as  one  day. 

The  Hebrew  word  ''yom"  means  at 
times,  ages,  and  again  it  may  mean  years 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  81 

or  days.  And  I  wish  to  emphasize  the  state- 
ment that  in  Genesis  fifth  and  eleventh,  as 
elsewhere  in  the  Old  Testament,  the  Bible 
simply  means  to  give  the  order  of  events, 
and  does  not  aim  at  scientific  chronology. 
In  the  genealogies  in  the  fifth  chapter  of 
Genesis,  the  generations  are  mentioned  be- 
tween Adam  and  Noah,  and  the  age  of  the 
parent  at  the  time  of  the  birth  of  the  son 
who  is  next  in  the  chain  is  in  each  case 
given;  in  the  eleventh  chapter  ten  more  gen- 
erations between  Noah  and  Abraham  are 
mentioned,  and  in  the  same  manner;  that 
is,  the  age  of  the  parent  at  the  birth  of  each 
successive  son  is  given  in  definite  figures. 
By  adding  together  these  sums  to  the  date 
of  Abraham  (which  is  1918  B.  C.)  as  Arch- 
bishop Usher  did,  we  get  the  dates  which 
are  found  in  the  margins  of  many  of  our 
English  Bibles;  namely,  of  the  creation  of 
man  4004  years  B.  C ;  and  of  the  flood  2348 
B.  C. 

Upon  the  face  of  it,  it  looks  as  though 
there  could  be  here  no  way  of  avoiding 
conflict  between  a  clear  Bible  statement  and 
the  result  of  modern  investigation  in  geol- 
ogy and  archaeology,  which  give  a  much 
higher  antiquity  to  man  and  to  the  civili- 
zation in  Egypt  and  Babylonia;  and  the 
flippant,  shallow  critic  refers  to  this  again 
and  again. 

Geology  dates  the  creation  of  the  earth, 


32  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

etc.,  in  terms  of  millions  of  years.  Arch- 
aeology tells  us  that  long  before  the  date 
assigned  by  Usher,  for  the  creation  of 
man,  the  Egyptians  and  Babylonians  had 
attained  a  high  state  of  civilization.  The 
first  of  the  Egyptian  kings  of  whom  men- 
tion is  made  upon  the  monuments  of  the 
Nile  Valley  is  Mena  or  Menes.  Manetho 
had  given  a  statement,  according  to  which 
Mena  must  have  lived  nearly  six  thousand 
years  before  the  Christian  era.  This  was 
looked  upon  for  a  long  time  as  utterly  inad- 
missible, as  it  was  so  clearly  at  variance 
with  the  chronology  of  our  own  sacred 
books ;  but  as  time  went  on,  large  frag- 
ments of  the  original  work  of  Manetho 
were  more  carefully  studied  and  distin- 
guished from  corrupt  transcriptions,  the 
lists  of  kings  at  Karnak,  Saquarah,  and  the 
two  temples  at  Abydos,  were  brought  to 
light  and  the  list  of  court  architects  were 
discovered.  "Among  all  these  monuments 
the  scholar  who  visits  Egypt  is  most  im- 
pressed by  the  sculptural  tablets  giving  the 
lists  of  kings.  Each  shows  the  monarch  of 
the  period  doing  homage  to  the  long  line  of 
his  ancestors.  Each  of  these  sculptural  mon- 
archs  has  near  him  a  tablet  bearing  his 
name."  That  great  care  was  always  taken 
to  keep  these  imposing  records  correct  is 
certain;    the    loyalty    of    subjects,    the    de- 


AKD  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  33 

votion  of  priests,  and  the  family  pride  of 
kings  were  all  combined  in  this ;  and  how 
effective  this  care  was,  is  seen  in  the  fact 
that  kings  now  known  to  be  usurpers  are 
carefully  omitted.  The  list  of  court  archi- 
tects, extending  over  the.  period  from  Seti 
to  Darius,  throw  a  flood  of  light  over  the 
other  records.  After  a  careful  study  of  the 
work  of  Manetho,  the  Egyptologists  of  our 
time  concur  in  fixing  the  date  of  the  reign 
of  Mena  at  possibly  4500  B.  C. 

But  the  significance  of  this  conclusion 
cannot  be  fully  understood  unless  we  re- 
member the  high  state  of  civilization  al- 
ready attained  at  this  period.  Recall  now 
their  great  engineering  and  architectural 
skill  as  manifest  in  the  Great  Pyramid,  the 
canals,  dikes,  and  public  buildings.  As  to 
sculpture,  we  have  not  only  the  great 
Sphinx  of  Gizeh,  but  we  have  ranges  of 
sphinxes,  heroic  statues,  showing  that  even 
then  this  branch  of  art  had  reached  an  amaz- 
ing development. 

Their  social  conditions  force  us  to  the 
same  conclusion.  Not  only  did  they  have  a 
separation  between  the  priests  and  military 
orders,  but  agriculturists,  manufacturers, 
and  trades,  with  a  whole  series  of  subdivi- 
sions in  each  of  these  classes.  The  early 
tombs  show  sculptured  and  painted  repre- 
sentations   of    a    daily    life,    which    even 


34  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

then  had  developed  into  a  vast  wealth  and 
variety  of  grades,  forms,  and  usages. 

All  this,  and  much  more,  tells  of  a  devel- 
opment in  art,  science,  law,  customs,  and 
languages,  which  must  have  required  a  vast 
period  before  the  time  of  Mena.  And  this 
conclusion  is  forced  upon  us  all  the  more  in- 
vincibly when  we  consider  the  slow  growth 
of  ideas  in  the  earlier  stages  of  civilization 
as  compared  with  the  later.  Benson,  one 
of  the  most  learned  of  Christian  scholars, 
declares  that  for  the  development  of  such 
a  civilization  no  less  than  ten  thousand 
years  were  required  prior  to  the  Jime  of 
Mena. 

In  view  of  geological  and  archaeological 
investigations  what  becomes  of  Arch- 
bishop Usher's  chronology?  How  shall  the 
boy  who  goes  to  college  or  the  university 
answer?  He  need  only  answer  that  the 
chronology  of  Bishop  Usher  is  not  the 
chronology  of  the  Bible — that  it  is  simply 
the  idea  of  a  man,  as  the  chronology  of 
books  on  geology  and  archaeology  express 
simply  the  idea  of  men.  We  must  not  al- 
ways take  them  at  their  face  value. 

Close  study  of  the  subject,  however  will 
convince  any  judicial  minds  that  even  the 
linked  genealogical  tables  of  these  chapters 
in  Chronicles  and  in  Matthew,  were  not  in- 
tended by  the  writer,  nor  understood  by  his 
readers,  to  teach  a  definite  chronology,  but 
are  inserted  simply  to  show  lines  of  descent^ 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  36 

in  which  any  number  of  intermediate  links 
may  be  omitted  without  interfering  with 
the  purpose  of  the  tables.  This  conclusion 
is  reached,  not  by  speculative  investigation, 
but  by  the  manifest  usage  of  sacred  writers 
in  numerous  passages  and  by  a  careful  con- 
sideration of  the  tables  themselves. 

As  one  of  the  most  striking  examples,  we 
may  turn  our  attention  to  the  first  chapter 
of  Matthew,  where  seemingly  the  complete 
genealogical  table  is  given,  extending  from 
Abraham  downward  to  Christ.  In  the  first 
verse  of  tjhe  same  chapter,  notice  also  that 
Christ  is  called  the  ''Son  of  David"  and  the 
"Son  of  Abraham."  It  is  obvious  here  that 
the  names  are  divided  into  three  groups  of 
fourteen  each,  and  that,  to  bring  within  the 
limit  of  these  numbers,  three  names  are 
omitted  in  verse  eight.  It  is  said  here  that 
Jorarn  begat  Ozias.  From  the  book  of  kings 
likewise,  the  three  names  of  Ahaziah,  Joash 
and  Amaziah  have  been  omitted;  while 
again  in  verse  eleven,  Jehoiakim  is  omitted 
after  Josiah. 

What  now  is  it  reasonable  to  conclude 
from  these  passages?  Shall  we  say  that  the 
writer  of  this  chapter  did  not  know  of  the 
existence  of  those  links  which  he  dropped 
out?  Certinly  not,  for  this  is  the  Gospel 
that  was  written  by  a  Hebrew  for  the  He- 
brews, and  both  he  and  his  readers  had 
ready  access  to,  and  were  devoted  believers 


36  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

in  the  Old  Testament.  Besides  they  were 
surrounded  by  Jewish  opponents,  who 
would  readily  find  fault  with  any  serious 
misuse  of  it.  The  only  explanation,  there- 
fore, is  that  all  were  so  familiar  with  the 
use  of  genealogies  to  indicate  simply  lines 
of  descent,  without  reference  to  lines  of 
chronology,  that  nobody  thought  of  raising 
any  question  concerning  such  use. 

Turning  to  the  Old  Testament,  we  notice 
one  of  the  clearest  examples  in  i  Chron. 
26:24,  where  we  read  that  Shebuel,  the  son 
of  Gershom,  the  son  of  Moses,  was  ruler 
over  the  treasures.  Again,  in  i  Chron.  23: 
15-16,  we  read  that  the  sons  of  Moses  were 
Gershom  and  Eliezer,  of  the  sons  of  Ger- 
shom, Shebuel  was  the  chief.  But  Shebuel 
was  appointed  over  the  treasury  of  David 
four  hundered  years  after  Moses ;  so  that 
eight  or  ten  generations  must  have  inter- 
vened between  Gershom  and  Shebuel. 
Again,  in  Ezra  7:1-6,  the  writer  of  this 
book,  certainly  with  full  knowledge  of  what 
was  written  in  the  Chronicles  before  him, 
gives  Ezra's  genealogy  in  the  line  of  Aaron, 
but  in  the  table  skips  from  Meraioth  to 
Azariah,  omitting  six  names  which  appear 
in  the  parallel  passage  in  i  Chron.  6:  3-14. 
The  writer  certainly  knew  what  he  was 
doing  and  his  readers  did  not  object  to  this 
abbreviation,  as  they  were  accustomed  to 

it. 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  ST 

These  examples  illustrate  the  fact  that 
instead  of  complete  (accurate)  chronology 
the  Jews  were  accustomed  to  condensed 
genealogies.  There  are  dozens  of  instances 
where  genealogical  tables  are  given  and 
where  it  is  clear  that  the  chronological  ques- 
tions with  them  are  not  taken  into  account 
in  the  least.  The  consideration  of  genealo- 
gical tables  was  with  the  Jews  the  rule  and 
not  the  exception.  That  the  genealogical 
tables  in  Genesis  fifth  and  eleventh  are  ab- 
breviated, is  evident  from  the  tables  them- 
selves. First,  the  history  of  Cain  and  Abel 
indicates  that  Seth  was  not  Adam's  first 
child,  as  one  would  infer  from  the  tables. 
Secondly,  no  chronology  is  ever  deduced 
from  these  tables  by  the  sacred  writers. 
They  were  used  as  intended,  to  indicate 
lines  of  descent.  There  is  no  computation 
anywhere  in  the  Scriptures,  of  the  time 
that  elapsed  from  the  creation  or  from  the 
deluge,  as  there  is  from  the  descent  into 
Egypt,  or  from  the  Exodus  to  the  building 
of  the  Temple.  Thirdly,  the  structure  of 
the  genealogies  in  Genesis  fifth  and  eleventh 
also  favors  the  belief  that  they  do  not  reg- 
ister all  the  names  in  these  respective  lines 
of  descent.  Their  regularity  seems  to  indi- 
cate internal  arrangement,  which  is  artificial 
rather  than  natural.  Thus  each  genealogy 
includes  ten  names,  Noah  being  the  tenth, 
and  each  ends  with  a  father  having  three 


38  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

sons.  It  seems,  therefore,  in  the  highest  de- 
gree probable  that  the  symmetry  of  these 
primitive  genealogies  is  mechanical  rather 
than  natural 

It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  the  Scriptures 
furnish  no  date  for  a  chronological  com- 
putation prior  to  the  life  of  Abraham ;  and 
that  the  Mosaic  records  do  not  fix,  and  were 
never  intended  to  fix,  the  precise  date  either 
of  the  flood  or  of  the  creation  or  of  the 
length  of  the  days  of  creation.  Thus,  it 
is  evident  that  the  flood  and  the  creation  oc- 
curred much  earlier  than  v^^ould  appear  from 
chronology  ordinarily  obtained  from  the 
scriptural  language. 

What  then  of  the  "days"  spoken  of  in  the 
first  chapter  of  Genesis?  Were  they  days 
of  twenty-four  hours,  as  the  days  with 
which  we  are  so  familiar,  or  were  they 
epochs,  periods,  or  eras  or  time?  The 
Christian  here  is  free  to  take  his  own  choice 
in  the  matter.  As  for  me  I  choose  to  con- 
sider those  days  long  periods  of  time.  And 
here  I  desire  to  add  that  science  did  not 
alone  suggest  this  idea  to  the  Christian.  The 
Scriptures  plainly  indicate  that  ''day"  (the 
Hebrew  yam)  often  sign'ifies  indefinite  peri- 
ods of  time.  In  Genesis  2  14,  we  read :  "These 
are  the  generations  of  the  heavens  and  of 
the  earth  when  they  were  created,  in  the  day 
(yam)  that  the  Lord  God  made  the  earth 
and  the  heavens." 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  39 

If  we  are  to  take  the  word  "day"  to  mean 
twenty-four  hours,  then  this  verse  says 
thart  the  heavens  and  the  earth  were  created 
in  one  day,  and  not  in  six,  as  stated  in  the 
first  chapter.  But  if  we  are  to  understand 
by  "day"  an  indefinite  period  of  time,  then 
the  matter  is  clear  enough:  viz;  that  the 
first  account  shows  a  series  of  steps  in  crea- 
tion, and  the  second  statement  is  a  summing 
up  of  the  whole  of  these  acts  within  the  en- 
tire period  occupied  by  creative  processes. 

Again,  God  told  Adam  that  in  the 
day  he  should  eat  of  the  forbidden 
tree  he  should  surely  die.  If  in  this 
case  an  ordinary  day  was  meant,  then  he 
should  have  expired  before  midnight  on  the 
day  of  his  disobedience,  and  we  know  that 
he  did  not  expire  on  that  day.  In  Duet. 
IX:  I,  Moses  says:  "Hear,  O  Israel,  thou 
art  to  pass  over  Jordan  this  day,"  and  yet 
he  knew  that  they  would  not  do  so  until 
after  his  death.  Another  instance  will  suf- 
fice for  my  argument.  In  Ps.  XCV:VIII 
we  find,  "Harden  not  your  heart,  as  in  the 
provocation,  and  as  in  the  day  of  tempta- 
tion in  the  wilderness."  Here  the  word 
day  would  mean  forty  years.  Again,  if  in 
Daniel  a  week  meant  seven  years  and  seven- 
ty weeks  meant  four  hundred  and  ninety 
years,  it  is  quite  evident  that  the  words  days 
and  weeks  had  frequently  a  wider  meaning 
than   that  which   they   now   convey.      Still 


40  THE  BIBLE  OP  NATURE 

another  authority  to  substantiate  this — one 
who  indeed  lived  before  the  dawn  of  phys- 
ical science.  He  was,  moreover,  a  good  He- 
brew scholar,  and  read,  many  times.  Gene- 
sis in  the  original.  I  refer  to  the  Apostle 
jPeter,  H  Pet.  ni:8.  "but  beloved,  be  not 
ignorant  of  this  one  thing,  that  one  day 
(yam)  is  with  the  Lord  as  a  thousand 
years,  and  a  thousand  years  as  one  day 
(yam). 

But  lest  the  geologist  fall  into  the  error 
of  contradicting  nature  itself  in  making 
those  periods  or  epochs  too  long,  he  should 
also  remember  that  it  is  a  law  of  nature  that 
subordinate  formations  arise  more  rapidly 
than  the  higher  ones;  and  furthermore  that 
life  in  the  warm  glowing  moments  of  its 
origin  moves  more  rapidly  than  its  later  and 
more  matured  development.  For  example,  if 
a  man  continued  to  grow  as  rapidly  for  the 
twenty  years  required  to  attain  his  full 
stature,  as  during  his  pre-natal  state,  he 
would  increase  beyond  the  tallest  cedars  of 
Lebanon  or  the  giant  trees  of  California. 
Then  in  reality  we  would  see  "men  as  trees 
walking." 

We  recognize  that  many  times  the  Bible 
of  Grace  has  been  misinterpreted,  and  that 
more  often  still  the  expounders  of  the  Bible 
of  Nature  have  been  untrustworthy. 
Nevertheless,  it  is  significant  that  in  the 
main  there  is  harmony  between  science  and 


AKD  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  41 

relig-ion,  and  it  is  this  agreement  that  I  de- 
sire to  point  out  in  this  book.  But  we  must 
continually  discriminate  between  the  com- 
mentaries and  the  original  text.  It  is  in 
the  latter  that  we  affirm  that  there  is  com- 
plete harmony. 


42  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 


CHAPTER  III 

Creation — Its  History  In  Nature 

Let  us  now  look  at  the  title-pages  of 
the  Book  of  Nature  and  the  Book  of  God's 
Word.  So  remarkable  is  the  co-ordination 
between  the  inferences  of  science  and  the 
statements  of  Genesis  that  they  lead  such 
a  competent  and  cautious  geologist  as  Prof. 
J.  D.  Dana  to  pronounce  it  "utterly  unex- 
plainable  on  any  other  than  the  theory  of 
Divine  inspiration  of  the  author  of  Genesis." 
Looking  at  this  general  order  from  his  point 
of  view  as  a  scientist — not  considering  the 
question  of  religion  or  inspiration — Quen- 
stedt,  the  well-known  professor  of  Geology 
and  Paleontology  in  the  University  of  Tue- 
bigen,  became  enthusiastic  and  wrote  thus : 
"This  Moses,  no  matter  where  he  obtained 
his  learning,  whether  from  Memphis  or 
Babylon,  was  a  great  geologist."  As  regards 
the  creation  of  the  plants  this  same  distin- 
guished scientist  says :  "Here  also  the  ven- 
erable Moses  is  right ;  because  the  algae  are 
the  first  organisms." 

This  is  refreshing  to  hear  such  distin- 
guished authors  in  their  field  of  knowledge 


AKD  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  43 

recognize  from  their  viewpoint  the  truth 
of  the  Bible  account.  Men  who  are  honest- 
ly seeking  after  the  truth  and  are  not  sim- 
ply feigning  wisdom  above  their  fellows 
might  well  "sit  up  and  take  notice"  when 
Quenstedt  and  Dana  speak.  No  matter 
what  theory  we  hold  geologically,  whether 
it  be  that  of  the  Catastrophists,  the  Uni- 
formitarians,  or  the  Evolutionists,  we  all 
alike  recognize  that,  according  to  Genesis, 
the  universe  was  brought  to  its  present 
condition,  not  instantaneously,  but  by  pro- 
gressive stages,  corresponding  in  a  remark- 
able degree  to  the  actual  order  as  inferred 
by   modern   science. 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  not  surprising  that, 
in  the  unscientific  age  in  which  the  book 
of  Genesis  originated,  a  writer  should  have 
spoken  of  the  creation  of  light  before  sun, 
moon  and  stars.  I  have  known  people,  among 
them  the  editor  of  a  fairly  respectable  daily 
paper,  who  ridiculed  the  account  in  Genesis 
on  the  basis  of  this  statement.  But  to  those 
rightly  informed  in  astronomy,  this  corre- 
sponds with  the  discoveries  of  science  which 
have  ascertained  that  light  is  th«  result  of 
chemical  action.  Ether,  says  the  astrono- 
mers, condensed  and  formed  luminous  ne- 
bulae, which  afterwards  still  further  con- 
densed into  suns  and  worlds.  Astronomical 
science  points  to  the  theory  that  before 
there  was  earth,  sun,  moon  and  stars,  all 


44  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

space  was  filled  with  bright  nebular  matter, 
having  the  appearance  of  the  light  of  the 
milky  way,  or  the  diffused  light  of  a  comet's 
tail.''  This  nebular  matter  was  in  motion,  re- 
volving around  an  indefinite  number  of  foci, 
and  gradually  collected  until  out  of  it  were 
formed  earth,  sun,  moon  and  stars.  One 
of  the  very  first  results  of  the  accumulation 
of  this  nebular  matter  would  be  the  crea- 
tion of  light,  which,  as  in  the  case  of  elec- 
tricity and  heat,  is  but  a  mode  of  motion. 
As  the  Nebular  Hypothesis  has  attained  to 
a  doctrine  of  science,  it  is  evident  that  both 
science  and  the  Bible  say  that  there  was 
light  before  the  sun  was  created.  Referring 
to  this  theory,  S.  Newcomb  speaks  of  Gene- 
sis 1 :3  as  being  in  perfect  accord  with  it, 
light  before  the  sun,  moon  and  stars. 

The  second  stage  as  mentioned  by  Gene- 
sis tells  in  remarkable  terms  of  the  forma- 
tion of  a  firmament  subsequent  to  the  form- 
ation of  light,  and  previous  to  the  appear- 
ance of  dry  land — thereby  it  meant  a  firma- 
ment which  separated  the  waters  above  from 
the  waters  below.  Although  the  Egyptians 
thought  that  the  sky  was  a  solid  canopy,  in 
which  were  placed  the  sun  and  stars,  and 
although  Moses  was  educated  in  the  Egyp- 
tian schools  and  took  care  to  teach  the 
Israelites  in  phrases  familiar  to  them,  he 
did  not  use  the  word  signifying  firmament,  but 
the  word  rakiang,  to  expand,  *'to  stretch  out." 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  45 

It  seems  to  me  it  will  be  helpful  at  this 
pomt  to  remember  that  elements  chemically 
united,  frequently  occupy  very  much  less 
space  than  when  they  are  disunited.  For 
example,  a  cistern  twenty  feet  by  twenty 
feet  at  its  base  and  thirty  feet  high,  would 
contam  twelve  thousand  cubic  feet  of  oxygen 
and  hydrogen  in  a  gaseous  state.  The  same 
elements  combining  to  produce  water  would 
occupy  only  one  cubic  foot.  At  this  time 
the  earth  must  have  been  a  mighty  caldron 
where  the  Divine  chemistry  was  elaborating 
the  materials  of  its  ultimate  condition.  As 
the  earth  continued  to  cool,  a  time  arrived 
when  its  temperature  became  insufficient  to 
maintain  in  a  state  of  vapor  the  vast  masses 
of  water  which  floated  in  the  atmosphere. 
These  vapors  would  pass  into  a  liquid  state 
and  then  the  first  rain  would  fall  upon  the 
earth. 

There  is  scarcely  any  doubt  that  the  earth 
was  at  one  time  a  molten  mass,  with  a 
temperature  of  two  thousand  degrees 
(centigrade)  above  zero.  Nearly  all  authors 
agree  in  this.  And  so,  evidently,  during  the 
long  time  which  would  be  required  because 
of  the  tremendous  heat  to  cool  the  earth's 
crust  to  a  temperature  of  five  hundred  de- 
grees to  six  hundred  degrees  above  zero, 
there  could  have  been  no  water  upon  it! 
At  the  same  time  it  must,  however,  have 
been  surrouded  at  some  distance  by  a  cloud 


46  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

of  vapor  of  immense  thickness,  so  dense 
that  it  could  have  been  cut  with  a  knife. 
This  cloud  of  vapor  could  have  been  re- 
moved and  broken  up  only  after  a  very 
lon^  period  of  time,  though  the  gradual 
cooling  of  the  earth  would  remove  it;  a 
considerable  portion  of  it  would  then  locate 
upon  and  enter  the  earth,  while  the  remain- 
der would  pass  off  in  the  clouds,  thus  pro- 
ducing firmament — a  separating  of  the 
waters  below  from  the  waters  above.  I 
quote  the  words  of  a  distinguished  scien- 
tist: *'It  would  be  difficult  to  chose  a  brief 
statement  of  the  case  which  should  more 
happily  express  in  phenomenal  language 
that  stage  of  creation  brought  into  view  by 
modern  science,  in  which  the  nebulous  mat- 
ter became  localized,  and  separated  into  re- 
volving systems,  such  as  the  astronomer 
now  delights  to  study."  In  a  word,  both 
astronomy  and  Genesis  say  that  the  second 
stage  of  creation  is  characterized  by  the 
localization  of  the  nebulous  matter — that  is, 
a  firmament  separating  the  waters  above 
from  the  waters  below. 

In  his  query  as  to  which  were  created 
first,  plants  or  animals,  Grant  Allen  says 
that  such  a  question  is  as  absurd  as  if  we 
were  to  ask  which  were  first,  beasts  of 
prey  or  the  animals  they  preyed  upon.  So 
far  as  known,  animals  are  not  able  directly 
to  assimilate  mineral  matter.  This  the  plants 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  47 

must  do  for  them,  and  hence  their  prece- 
dence. Plants  also  will  endure  a  much 
higher  temperature  than  any  known  animal. 
Some  forms  of  plant  life  will  even  sur- 
vive a  temperature  of  two  hundred  and 
twenty  degrees  above  zero;  that  is,  they 
would  not  be  destroyed  by  boiling  water. 
They  could  have  lived  at  a  much  earlier 
period  in  the  history  of  the  earth  than  would 
have  been  possible  for  animals.  We  read  of 
the  plants  on  the  first  pages  of  the  earth's 
history.  In  the  earliest  known  rocks,  viz., 
the  Archaean,  there  are  extensive  deposits  of 
graphite  or  "black  lead."  It  must  be  re- 
membered that  this,  though  called  black 
lead,  is  not  lead  at  all,  but  pure  carbon  or 
coal,  and  of  vegetable  origin  like  other  coal. 
Very  evidently,  the  plants  of  the  coal 
period  did  not  depend  on  the  light  of  the 
sun.  Hugh  Miller  speaks  of  the  thick  cloud 
which  wrapped  the  earth  as  with  a  mantle, 
during  the  earlier  geological  periods,  and 
in  that  connection  compares  the  earth  to  a 
vast  greenhouse  covered  with  smoked  glass. 
He  means  to  say  that,  at  the  time  when  the 
earth,  as  is  manifest  in  the  rocks,  brought 
forth  most  luxuriantly  the  same  kind  of 
vegetation  all  over  it,  the  same  temperature 
must  have  prevailed  everywhere.  This  is 
due  to  the  fact  that  the  earth  was  mantled 
by  a  dense  cloud  of  vapor  so  thick  that  the 
sun*s  rays  could  not  penetrate  it.    It  is  in- 


48  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

teresting  to  remember  that  it  is  precisely 
this  method  which  is  pursued  today  in  se- 
curing the  best  results  in  growing  the 
species  of  those  early  days.  If  you  visit 
any  large  garden  you  will  find  that  most 
of  the  fern-plants  are  in  greenhouses,  from 
which  rays  of  the  sun  are  cut  off  by  thick 
glass,  colored  green,  and  that  the  tempera- 
ture is  kept  at  an  equal  warmth  the  whole 
year  round,  whilst  the  atmosphere  is  sat- 
urated with  moisture. 

Every  observer  of  plant  life  knows  also 
that  the  Thallophytes,  Bryophytes  and 
Pteridophytes,  lichens,  mosses,  and  fern 
allies,  grow  most  luxuriantly  in  the  conifer 
forests  which  are  so  dense  as  scarcely  to 
allow  the  rays  of  the  sun  to  reach  them. 
I  will  add  yet  another  interesting  fact 
which  will  aid  us  in  these  considerations. 
In  the  Pacific  Ocean,  off  the  coast  of  Chili, 
there  is  an  island  named  Chiloe,  where  it 
rains  for  three  hundred  days  in  the  year, 
and  where  the  light  of  the  sun  is  shut  out 
by  perpetual  fogs.  On  this  island,  says  one 
writer,  "arborescent  ferns  form  forests,  be- 
neath which  grow  herbaceous  ferns,  which 
rise  three  feet  and  upwards  above  a  marshy 
soil,  and  a  mass  of  cryptogamia  plants  flour- 
ishes there,  resembling  in  its  main  features 
the  flora  of  the  coal  fields." 

Some  have  offered  objections  to  the  ac- 
count of  the  creation  of  the  vegetable  king- 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  49 

dom  in  Genesis  on  the  ground  that  it  de- 
scribes the  higher  species  of  plants,  which 
in  reality  are  introduced  at  a  much  later 
date — such  as  grass  and  fruit  trees.  They 
contend  that  the  account  should  be  confined 
to  the  older  orders  of  the  vegetable  king- 
dom; such  as  Algae,  Fungi,  and  Lichens; 
the  Club-Mosses,  the  Fern  Allies,  and  so 
on.  A  better  translation  of  the  St.  James's 
version  regarding  the  advent  of  vegetable 
life  will  prove  the  correctness  of  the  state- 
ments of  Moses.  I  have  consulted  a 
number  of  authors,  all  of  whom  confirm 
Dr.  Kitto's  explanation  of  this  verse :  viz., 
that  the  Hebrew  word  deshe,  translated 
"grass,"  is  applicable  to  every  kind  of  ver- 
dure in  the  state  of  sprouting.  How 
natural  here  to  think  of  Algi,  Fungi,  and 
Lichens,  the  lowest  forms  of  plant  life ! 
Esebh,  rendered  "herb"  denotes  a  higher 
order  of  plants  propogated  by  seeds.  'Est 
P*ri,  "fruit  trees,"  may  refer  to  cone-bear- 
ing trees  and  those  of  other  Devonian  and 
carboniferous  periods.  The  seed  vessels 
of  that  period  might  be  properly  styled 
fruit. 

Of  the  fruit  of  this  period,  I  must  es- 
pecially mention  that  of  the  trigonocarpon, 
which  at  one  time  was  supposed  to  be  the 
fruit  of  the  palm,  but  Sir  Joseph  Hooker 
states  that  it  may  be  referred  to  that  large 
section  of  Coniferous  plants  which  bear 
fruits  and  not  cones.  "On  the  whole," 
says    Joseph     Hooker,     "these     fruits     are 


50  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

preferable  to  a  highly  developed  type 
exhibiting  extensive  modifications  of  ele- 
mentary organs  for  the  purpose  of  tlieir 
adaptation  to  special  functions ;  and  these 
modifications  are  as  great  and  the  adapta- 
tion as  special  as  any  to  be  found  amongst 
analogous  fruits  in  the  existing  vegetable 
world."  The  earliest  forms  of  vegetable 
life  were  cryptogams,  such  as  the  algae, 
lichens,  fungi,  and  ferns  propogated  by 
spores  and  not  by  seeds.  Dr.  Hicks  has 
found  ferns  in  the  lower  places  in  Wales. 

Following  the  cryptogamic  plants  came 
the  lowest  class  of  phaenogams,  or  flower- 
ing plants  called  gymnosperms  such  as  the 
conifers.  Dana  says  that  conifers  were 
found  in  the  lower  Devonian.  These  were 
followed  by  a  higher  class  of  phaenogams, 
or  flowering  plants,  bearing  a  low  order  of 
fruit,  found  in  the  middle  Devonian  and 
Carboniferous  strata  "Spores,  seeds,  fruit" 
is  the  order  given  in  Genesis.  This  same 
order  is  written  on  the  strata  of  the  rocks. 

Now  let  us  turn  to  the  Bible  of  Grace, 
and  here  I  will  quote  the  words  of  Dr.  E. 
P.  Borrows:  *Tn  our  view  Moses,  in  de- 
scribing the  creation  of  the  vegetable  king- 
dom on  the  third  day  describes  neither  the 
creation  of  the  particular  existing  species  as 
contrasted  with  the  extinct  species  of  for- 
mer ages,  nor  of  these  extinct  species  as 
contrasted  with  the  species  now  existing.    But 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  51 

he  describes  the  establishment  of  the  vege- 
table kingdom  in  its  laws  and  general  forms 
which  are  valid  for  all  the  subsequent 
geological  eras." 

The  grand  fact  revealed  is,  that  on  the 
third  day  the  vegetable  world  was  brought 
into  being  under  the  immutable  principles 
which  now  regulate  its  operations.  And 
we  ask:  Why  is  this  not  a  fair  interpreta- 
tion of  the  words,  "and  the  earth  brought 
forth  grass,  the  herb  yielding  seed  after  its 
kind,  and  the  tree  yielding  fruit  whose 
seed  is  in  itself,  after  its  kind?"  The  reader 
will  notice  that  the  two  things  made  promi- 
nent in  this  account  are  law,  as  expressed 
in  the  formula,  "after  its  kind,  and  general 
forms  "grass,  'herb',  fruit-tree,'  yielding 
fruit  is  in  itself." 

And  so  the  very  strata  of  the  rocks  (on 
the  third  page  of  the  book)  accord  with  the 
account  in  Genesis;  viz.,  that  on  the  third 
day  the  vegetable  world  was  brought  into 
being  under  the  immutable  principle,  which 
regulate  its  operation  even  to  this  day. 

In  the  description  of  Genesis,  the  fourth 
grand  stage  in  the  creative  plan  tells  of 
the  establishment  of  days  and  seasons  upon 
the  earth  through  its  relation  to  the  sun 
and  moon.  "God  set  them  in  the  firma- 
ment of  the  heaven  to  give  light  upon  the 
earth  and  to  rule  over  the  day  and  over 
the   night."      Previous   to    this   time,   it   is 


62  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

generally  supposed  that  there  was  no  dark- 
ness upon  the  earth,  though  it  was  sur- 
rounded by  dense  clouds,  which  at  the 
same  time  (had  there  been  eyes  on  the 
earth  to  see)  hid  the  view  of  the  sun  from 
an  observer  on  the  earth.  These  clouds 
were  luminous  bodies  filled  with  electrical 
disturbance  somewhat  like  those  of  the 
Aurora  Borealis  of  our  day. 

This  description  of  Genesis  does  not 
mean  that  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars  did 
not  already  exist,  but  that  now,  for  the 
first  time,  they  fulfilled  the  object  for 
which  they  were  "set  in  the  firmament," 
viz.,  for  signs  and  seasons  and  days  and 
years.  In  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis  a 
quite  different  word,  in  the  original,  is  used 
to  express  "created."  Here  the  word  used 
should  be  translated  "appointed."  It  should 
read:  "And  God  appointed,  etc."  In  I 
Kings,  XII:XIII;  I  Sam.  XII:VI,  etc;  the 
identical  word  is  translated,  appointed.  I 
have  intimated  before  that  the  sun,  moon 
and  stars  must  have  been  created  contem- 
poraneously with  the  earth,  but  that  dur- 
ing the  early  ages  of  the  world  much  of 
their  light  was  hidden  from  our  globe  by 
the  dense  vapors  which  surrounded  it ;  that, 
up  to  the  time  now  under  consideration,  a 
similar  climate  existed  all  over  the  earth; 
and  that,  consequently,  there  were  no  sea- 
sons properly  so  called  until  after  the  car- 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  65 

boniferous  period.  When,  however,  the  sun 
blazed  forth  in  all  its  glory,  then  seasons 
began,  as  both  flora  and  fauna  testify. 

In  the  Permian  epoch,  the  profuse  vege- 
tation of  the  Carboniferous  period  no  long- 
er existed;  but  the  fossil  remains  of  plants 
show  a  great  increase  of  woody  tissue, 
which  could  only  have  been  produced  by  the 
presence  of  unclouded  sunlight  and  its  mag- 
ic effect  upon  chlorophyll.  All  the  trees  ancl 
plants  previous  to  this  time  were  of  a  soft 
and  pulpy  nature  (like  the  endogenous 
plants  of  our  day)  which  is  manifest  from 
the  fact  that  huge  trunks,  compressed  and 
flattened,  are  found  in  the  coal;  that  is, 
when  they  are  in  a  horizontal  or  inclined 
position.  Doubtless  these  would  have  been 
cylindrical  if  the  wood  had  been  of  a  hard 
texture. 

How  different  now  when  we  come  to  the 
flora  of  the  next  higher  strata,  such  as 
the  Trias,  the  Juras,  and  so  on,  for  there 
we  find  season-rings — exogenous  plants. 
The  animals  from  the  Silurian  up  to  the 
end  of  the  Carboniferous  era,  in  widely 
separated  districts  all  over  the  earth,  cor- 
respond to  one  another.  Those  of  the 
Trias  and  higher  periods,  on  the  other  hand, 
are  very  dissimilar  in  form  and  appearance 
when  found  in  localities  distant  from  one 
another,  while  the  organisms  of  the  Ter- 
tiaries  in  different  latitudes  differ  as  much 


64  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

from  each  other  as  the  animals  and  plants 
of  our  own  era. 

Do  you  ask  wherefore  this  sudden  change 
in  the  fauna  and  flora?  The  answer  is 
obvious.  The  sun  began  to  shine  upon  the 
earth.  The  facts  indicate  that,  previous  to 
the  Permian  age,  there  was  a  uniform 
climate  which  was  probably  the  result  of 
central  heat  diffusing  an  equable  tempera- 
ture throughout  the  whole  earth.  This 
equability  ceased,  and  a  diversity  of  climate, 
of  which  the  sun  was  the  principal  cause, 
began,  and  has  existed  since  then  through- 
out the  world;  consequently,  the  sun  be- 
came at  this  era  not  only  the  visible  sign  for 
distinguishing  days  and  years,  but  also  the 
efficient  cause  of  the  seasons. 

When  the  earth's  swaddling  bands  of 
clouds  were  all  one  blaze  of  electric  light, 
the  sun  did  not  divide  between  the  dark- 
ness and  the  light,  and  the  moon  and  the 
stars  did  not  rule  over  the  night.  They 
could  do  this  only  when  they  became  vis- 
ible from  the  surface  of  the  earth.  Here 
also  there  is  unanimity,  the  indication  of  a 
common  author. 

We  come  now  to  the  order  of  life,  as  it 
is  described  in  Genesis,  and  as  it  is  revealed 
to  us  by  the  geologist's  crowbar.  While 
we  do  not  expect  scientific  literalism  nor 
scientific  details  in  so  brief  a  statement  as 
is   given    by   Moses,    such   as   it   would   be 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  55 

natural  to  look  for  in  an  extended  scientific 
treatise,  at  the  same  time  the  Biblical  ac- 
count in  its  general  outlines  is  remarkable 
for  its  co-ordination  with  the  discoveries 
and  inferences  of  geology.  I  repeat  the 
origin  of  life  in  the  order  which  here  follows. 
It  is  the  order  of  life  as  set  forth  in  the 
first  chapter  of  Genesis  :  first,  plants  ;  second, 
animals  that  swim  in  water  and  fly  in  the 
air;  third,  reptiles;  fourth  mammals;  fifth 
man.  That  is  essentially  the  order  as  re- 
corded on  the  rocks.  Geologists  difiFer  in 
their  opinions,  it  is  true,  but  here  there  is 
remarkable  agreement.  As  already  stated, 
Genesis  puts  vegetation  first  in  this  order; 
Science  does  likewise. 

Following  the  order  as  given  in  Genesis, 
we  next  find  aniamals  that  swim  in  water 
and  fly  in  the  air.  This  comprised  the  Silu- 
rian and  Devonian  periods  geologically. 
Associated  with  the  fact  that  birds  and 
fishes  were  created  on  the  same  day  as  re- 
vealed by  the  Bible  and  confirmed  in  the 
rocks,  their  remarkable  analogies  in  funda- 
mental characteristics  are  worthy  of  note. 
Both  birds  and  fishes  have  fan-like  tails, 
serving  as  rudders ;  both  have  hollow  bones, 
filled  with  air;  one  has  wings  for  flying, 
the  other  fins  for  swimming;  both  have  un- 
usually strong  means  for  locomotion ;  and 
both  possess  an  unaccountable  instinct  for 
migration.     Associated  with  the  command 


66  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATUEE 

"let  the  waters  bring  forth  abundantly,"  we 
read,  "and  fowl  that  fly  above  the  earth." 
Geologists  tell  us  that  during  the  Silu- 
rian, and  especially  during  the  Devonian 
periods,  the  waters  brought  forth  abund- 
antly— that  the  seas  literally  swarmed 
with  life  trilobites,  brachiopods,  crinoids, 
cephalopods,  and  fishes.  The  Devonian  has 
been  called  the  age  of  fishes,  not  with  the 
idea  of  asserting  that  those  were  the  only 
animals,  but  merely  that  the  most  noticeable 
creatures  were  true  fishes.  They  were, 
however,  not  like  the  food  fishes  of  today 
but  rather  mail-clad  forms  and  species  like 
the  sharks. 

Turning  another  page,  we  come  to  the  first 
chapter  on  birds.  I  think  I  am  stating  it 
correctly,  up  to  the  last  hour,  as  regards 
the  record  of  birds,  when  I  say  there  is  no 
trace  of  life  until  we  come  to  the  New  Red 
Sandstone  of  the  Trias.  In  none  of  the 
great  trees  of  the  carboniferous  epoch  can 
it  be  seen  that  birds  built  their  nests.  The 
tall  sigillaria,  the  gigantic  calamites,  and 
the  thick  bushy  ferns,  had  none  of  those 
beautiful  forms  of  life  fluttering  about  them, 
and  imparting  the  additional  charm  they 
now  lend  to  our  forests.  In  the  Connecticut 
Valley,  and  in  more  than  twenty  places  in 
Massachusetts,  Dr.  Deane  discovered  foot- 
prints of  no  less  than  thirty  species  of  birds. 

As  in   the  Trias  we   first  find   traces   of 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  57 

birds,    so   on   the    next    higher    strata,    we 
suddenly    come     upon     those     huge     sea- 
monsters,  amongst  the  most  important  of 
which   are   the    Ichthyosaurus   and    Plesio- 
saurus.     This  is   the  age   of   Reptiles,  the 
age   of  the  great   saurians.     The     chapter 
which  records  their  advent  follows  that  of 
the  birds.     The  Bible  of  Grace  speaks  of 
fishes,  birds  and  sea  monsters.    That  is  the 
order  of  the  record  on  the  rocks  also.    The 
reptilian  family,  biblically  and  geologically, 
preceded  that  of  the  true  Mammalia.     The 
former,  acording  to  the  Bible,  were  water 
animals;  the  latter  were  land  animals,  such 
as  cattle  and  beasts  of  the  earth.    The  very 
names    of   those    great   reptiles    antedating 
land   animals   were   marine   and   lacustrine. 
In  the  fifth  edition  of  LeConte's  Geology 
page  502,  that  standard  author  names  the 
four    large    Reptilian    orders,   viz.,    Enalio- 
saurs,    Dinosaurs,    Plesiosaurs,    and   Croco- 
dilians,  and  on  the  same  page  tells  us  that 
their  fossils  were  found  in  marine  and  la- 
custrine (lake  and  swamp)  deposits.     That 
means  that  they  lived  in  and  about  those 
early  lakes  and  swamps  and  died  there.     On 
the  same  page  he  adds  still  another  order ; 
viz.,  Mosasaurs,  and  says  that  they  were 
"wholly     marine     in     habits."       Moreover 
what  child  does  not  know  the  marine  habits 
of     the     Crocodilians?        The  very     word 
Enaliosaurs  means  marine  lizard.  It  is  evi- 


58  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

dent  that  the  ''great  whales" — saurians — of 
the  Bible  account  and  the  reptilian  family 
of  geology,  coincide  in  the  fact  that  they 
were  pre-eminently  marine  in  habits,  where- 
as the  "beasts  of  the  earth  and  cattle,"  that 
is,  the  mammals  which  followed  later,  were 
pre-eminently  the  land  animals. 

We  do  not  mean  to  draw  the  lines  so 
sharply  as  to  say  that  no  mammals  are 
found  in  the  sea  and  that  no  reptiles  are 
found  on  the  land.  The  whale  suckles  its 
young  in  the  sea,  and  occasionally  a  crocodile 
comes  up  out  of  the  water  to  sun  itself  on 
the  river's  brink  or  on  the  shore  of  the 
lake.  But  we  do  mean  to  affirm  the  ac- 
counts, both  of  nature  and  of  revelation, 
that  the  reptilian  family  which  preceded 
was  composed  pre-eminently  of  marine 
animals ;  while  the  mammals  which  followed 
were  pre-eminently  land  animals  in  the  car- 
boniferous period,  and  some  saurians  called 
Labyrinthodonts  existed  in  those  early  days. 
In  the  Triassic  period  there  were  some  large 
saurians  and  also  others  in  the  Colite ;  but 
it  was  during  the  latter  time  of  the 
Ichthyosaurus  that  numerous  monster  land 
animals  appeared  such  as  the  Palaeothe- 
rium,  the  Dinotherium,  the  Megatherium, 
the  Mastodon.  Surely  they  are  rightly  called 
the  ''beasts  of  the  earth."  The  oxen  which 
existed  in  the  Post-Pliocene  period,  if  not 
identical  with,  was  at  least  very  near  to  our 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  59 

living  species.  The  first  fossil  remains  of 
the  ox,  deer  and  elk  are  found  in  a  later 
stratum  than  the  monster  land-animals  just 
named,  and  that  also  corresponds  to  Gen. 
1 :25 — '*and  God  made  the  beasts  of  the  earth 
after  their  kind  and  cattle  after  their  kind." 
I  venture  to  affirm  now  that  no  recognized 
geologist  ever  gave  any  other  order  of  life 
on  the   earth   than  the   following: 

1.  Plant  life — Laurentian   period,   etc. 

2.  Fishes — Silurian  and   Devonian   peri- 
ods, etc. 

3.  Birds — Triassic  period,  etc. 

4.  Reptiles — Jurassic      and      Cretaceous 
periods,  etc. 

5.  Mammals — Eocene      and      Miocenne 
periods,   etc 

6.  Man — Psychozoic  Era. 
I  have  said  nothing  regarding  the  recent 
advent  of  man,  for  the  reason  that  it  is  uni- 
versally recognized  that  last  of  all  "God 
created  man"  to  "have  dominion  over  the 
fish  of  the  sea,  and  over  the  fowl  of  the  air, 
and  over  every  living  thing  that  moveth 
upon  the  earth."  It  seems  to  me  that  the 
geologist,  after  he  has  read  the  handwriting 
on  the  strata  of  the  rocks,  and  then  takes 
his  Bible  and  there  reads  the  same  record, 
can  arrive  at  no  other  conclusion  than  that 
the  same  God  who  overhung  the  galleries 
of  the  coal  mines  with  such  beautiful  pro- 
portions   of    extinct    vegetable    forms    and 


60  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

covered  the  roofs  thereof  with  so  gorgeous 
a  canopy  of  tapestry,  enriched  with  festoons 
of  the  most  graceful  foliage  over  all  its 
surface,  that  the  same  God  who  has  given 
us  a  record  of  life  on  every  stratum  of  the 
rocks,  must  be  the  only  personality  in  all 
the  universe  who,  in  an  unscientific  age, 
could  have  inspired  his  servant  Moses  in 
such  a  way  that  he  could  give  us  a  record 
that  would  harmonize  with  the  geological 
record  in  such  remarkable  degree.  Here 
are  facts  that  the  skeptic  might  well  ponder, 
for  if  he  is  rational,  he  must  account  for 
this  harmony,  and  this  can  be  done  in  but 
one  way ;  viz ;  that  God  is  the  author  both 
of  the  Bible  of  Nature  and  the  Bible  of 
Grace. 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  61 


"Lest  we  forget"  the  bow  in  the  cloud: 
''When  o'er  the  green,   undeluged  earth 

Heaven's  covenant  thou  didst  shine, 
How  came  the  world's  gray  feathers  forth 

To  watch  thy  sacred  sign! 
And  when  its  yellow  lustre  smiled 

O'er   mountains   yet   untrod 
Each  mother  held  aloft  her  child 

To  bless  the  bow  of  God. 
How  glorious  is  thy  girdle  cast 

O'er  mountain,  tower,   and  town, 
Or  mirrored   in  the   ocean   vast, 

A  thousand  fathoms  down. 
As    fresh    in   yon    horizon   dark, 

As  young  thy  beauties  seem, 
As  when  the  eagle  from  the  ark 

First  sported  in  the  beam. 
For  faithful  to  its  sacred  page 

Heaven  still  rebuilds  thy  span, 
Nor  lets  the  type  grow  pale  with  age 

That  first  spoke  peace  to  man." 

Campbell. 


CHAPTER  IV 
The  Flood — Its  History  in  Nature. 

In  the  year  1823  the  Rev.  William  Buck- 
land,  D.  D.,  F.  R.  S.  published  a  book  en- 


«2  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

titled  "Reliquiae  Deluvianae"  (Relics  of  the 
Flood.)  I  believe  he  was  the  pioneer  in 
this  matter  as  regards  the  Bible  record  of 
the  Deluge,  calling  attention,  as  he  does,  ta 
the  fact  that  the  very  earth  on  w^hich  we 
tread  from  day  to  day  bears  testimony  to 
the  account  of  the  flood  as  given  in  the 
Scriptures.  Dr.  Buckland's  observations 
were,  for  ttie  most  part,  limited  to  the  Os- 
siferous Fissures.  But  he  set  the  pace,  and 
since  his  day  many  others,  with  a  much 
wider  range  of  observations,  have  put  their 
findings  on  a  firm  foundation.  Strange  in- 
deed that  traditions  of  a  flood  are  found 
among  nearly  all  the  nations  and  tribes  of 
the  world ;  but  stranger  still  is  the  fact  that 
recent  geological  investigations  have  re- 
duced the  marvel  to  such  reasonable  propor- 
tions that  no  one  need  hesitate  to  accept  the 
Biblical  story,  when  properly  interpreted, 
upon  the  strength  of  the  documentary  evi- 
dence. 

Space  will  not  permit  me  to  do  more  than 
attempt  to  make  clear  to  the  average  reader 
the  fact  that  in  this  matter  of  a  deluge,  the 
earth  itself,  as  read  by  most  faithful  and 
trustworthy  geologists  of  recent  times, 
bears  a  similar  testimony  to  the  recorded 
deluge  of  Genesis.  Anyone  who  desires  to 
enter  more  largely  into  this  subject,  I  would 
direct  to  the  very  elaborate  monogram  by 
Prof.  Joseph  Prestwich,  F.  R.  S. 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  63 

The   facts  revealed  by  geologists  go   to 
show  that   about  six   thousand  years   ago, 
since   man   has    appeared   on   the    earth,   a 
widespread  submergence  of  northern,  cen- 
tral and  western  Asia,   Europe  and  North 
America,  occurred  which  was  followed  by  a 
still  more  rapid  uplifting  of  the  continents, 
with  numerous  very  sudden  catastrophies. 
Such  a   continual   dropping,   amounting  to 
about    fourteen    hundred    feet    in    Western 
Europe  and  about  three  hundred  feet  in  Cen- 
tral Asia,  would  convert  into  one  great  sea, 
all  European  Russia  (except  the  Ural  Moun- 
tains,)   all    western    and    northern    Siberia 
and  the  Aral-Caspian  basin ;  it  would  make 
Baikal    Lake  an    arm   of   the   Sea,   and   let 
oceanic  water  into  the  Desrt  of  Gobi,  and 
thus  fill  a  basin  in  Central  Asia  larger  than 
the    Mediterranean    Sea.       Similar    results 
would   follow    in   the    entire   valley   of   the 
Euphrates,   and   about   the   borders   of  Ar- 
menia.    That  we  may  grasp  the  full  mean- 
ing here,  it  is  important  to  realize  that  by 
this  hypothesis  of  submergency,  with  a  cor- 
responding emergency,  a  large  and  accumu- 
lating class  of  facts  dovetail,  which,  indeed, 
refuse  any  other  explanation. 

Before  naming  the  facts,  however,  let  me 
briefly  state  the  reason  for  the  hemispheres 
playing  see-saw  in  the  manner  indicated. 
Many  are  agreed  that  the  interior  of  the  earth 
is  a  molten  mass — plastic — verily  like  a  sea 


«4  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

on  which  the  relatively  thin  crust  of  the 
earth  rests.  This  crust  of  the  earth  is  like 
a  pontoon  bridge — the  more  you  pile  on  at 
one  end  the  higher  it  will  rise  at  the  other. 
At  the  time  of  the  glacial  epoch,  snow  ac- 
cumulated over  about  six  million  square 
miles  of  North  Amercia  and  northern 
Europe.  Under  the  pressure  of  its  own 
weight,  this  snow  consolidated  into  ice  un- 
til it  attained  a  depth  of  a  mile.  This  is 
known  from  the  fact  that  it  covered  the  top 
of  Mt.  Washington  in  New  England,  leav- 
ing foreign  boulders  on  its  very  summit. 
At  the  present  time  the  thickness  of  the  ice 
covering  Greenland,  especially  the  central 
part,  is  probably  much  more  than  this.  This 
would  mean  an  accumulation  of  six  million 
cubic  miles  of  ice  distributed  over  the 
northern  hemispheres  at  the  close  of  the 
glacial  period. 

Now,  to  furnish  this  amount  of  snow  an 
equal  amount  of  water  was  lifted  from  the 
ocean — an  amount  sufficient  to  lower  the 
ocean  level  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  the 
world  over.  It  has  been  estimated  that  the 
total  amount  of  weight  thus  transferred  from 
the  ocean  to  the  northern  part  of  Europe 
and  America  would  be  twenty-four  thou- 
sand million  million  tons.  According  to 
one  estimate,  the  weight  of  the  entire  con- 
tinent of  North  America  would  be  (esti- 
mating the  ice  to  be  one  mile  deep)   only 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  65 

one-third  more  than  that  of  the  ice  of  the 
glacial  epoch;  if  the  ice  was  two  miles  deep, 
It  would  be  one-third  less. 

The  plasticity  of  the  earth  is  proven  by 
a  wide  range  of  geological  facts.    The  equil- 
ibrium  is  indeed  so  delicately  balanced  that 
it  is  very  easy  to  believe  that  the  glacial 
epoch  produced  such  a  temporary  instabil- 
ity as  is  described  in  the  story  of  the  flood. 
The  very  fact  that  the  ocean  was  relieved  of 
such  a  tremendous  weight  by  the  abstraction 
of  three  hundred  feet  of  water  from  its  en- 
tire surface,   would  no  doubt  produce  the 
see-saw  motion  between  the  continents.    In 
the  readjustment  of  parts  the  Asiatic  con- 
tinent  would   sink   of   itself   and   then   rise 
again  as  soon  as  the  ice  was  melted.     The 
waters  would  then  return  to  their  natural 
position,  leaving  many  marks  behind  of  their 
downward  rush  as  the  mountains  and  hills 
were  perhaps  rapidly  lifted.  The  ill-founded 
criticism  of  the  Biblical  account  of  the  Flood 
claims  that  there  is  not  water  enough  in  all 
the  oceans  to  cover  the  tops  of  the  highest 
mountains.      Such    shallow    flippancy  over- 
looks the  fact  that  the  Biblical  account  rep- 
resents the  flood  as  caused,  not  so  much  by 
the  rising  of  the  water,  as  by  the  sinking  of 
the  land.     It  says  that  all  the  fountains  of 
the  great  deep  were  broken  up. 

The  glacial  epoch  is  of  recent  date  and  in 
this  respect  can  easily  be  harmonized  with 


66  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

the  Bible  chronology,  as  I  have  already  ex- 
plained in  the  third  chapter  of  this  book. 
Nearly  all  of  the  water-falls  in  the  glacial 
regions  came  into  existence  and  began 
erosion  since  the  melting  of  the  ice  of  that 
period.  And  so>  by  actual  measure- 
ments compared  with  those  made  fifty 
years  ago,  it  is  shown  that  the 
wearing  away  of  the  rocks  of  the  falls  of 
St.  Anthony,  Niagara,  and  others,  is  at  the 
rate  of  nearly  five  feet  per  annum.  This 
would  place  the  beginning  of  these  various 
cataracts  at  about  500  B.  C,  at  which  time 
there  was  a  high  civilization  both  in  Baby- 
lon and  in  Egypt.  Because  so  many  falls 
have  thus  been  tested,  and  such  harmony  in 
the  rate  of  erosion  observed,  the  date  is  al- 
most a  fixed  quantity. 

Another  fact  corroborative  of  the  world- 
wide submergence  theory  is  well  estab- 
lished ;  viz.,  that  at  the  close  of  the  Miocene 
period  (geologically)  on  both  continents 
there  occurred  a  remarkable  extinction  of 
animals.  Among  these  there  were  three 
species  of  dolphins,  a  walrus,  and  two  spe- 
cies of  the  sea-cow;  two  species  of  bears, 
four  species  of  the  dog  family,  and  two  of 
the  cat  family  as  large  as  lions ;  six  species 
of  the  horse,  two  species  of  elephants  and 
two  of  mastodons ;  two  species  of  bison,  a 
camel,  and  three  species  of  sheep ;  a  species 
of  megatherium,  huge  and    terrestial    sloths 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  67 

as  large  as  the  rhinoceros  which  ranged 
over  the  southern  states  as  far  north  as 
Pennsylvania. 

The  sudden  blotting  out  of  a  large  list 
of  animals  in  the  old  world  at  the  same  time 
is  equally  remarkable.  The  number  is  very 
large,  but  I  will  simply  name  one  species, 
the  mammoth.  The  largest  of  them  fairly 
swarmed  over  the  plains  of  Siberia  and 
spread  over  all  western  and  central  Europe. 

So  recently  has  the  mammoth  become  ex- 
tinct in  Siberia,  that  one  is  still  occasionally 
found  frozen  in  the  ice  with  the  flesh  unde- 
cayed.  When  Columbus  discovered  Amer- 
ica, the  horse,  which  lived  and  flourished  up 
to  a  recent  geological  time,  had  entirely  dis- 
appeared from  the  continent.  .  Russel  Wal- 
lace says :  'Tt  is  surely  a  marvelous  fact,  this 
sudden  dying  out  of  so  many  large  mamma- 
lia, not  in  one  place  only,  but  over  half  the 
land  surface  of  the  globe.  We  cannot  but 
believe  that  there  must  have  been  some 
physical  cause  for  the  great  change;  and  it 
must  have  been  a  cause  capable  of  acting  al- 
most simultaneously  over  large  portions  of 
the  earth's  surface." 

Startling  also  is  the  announcement  that  at 
Lansing,  Kansas,  near  Leavenworth,  a 
human  skeleton  was  found  buried  at  the 
base  of  an  undisturbed  section  of  loess  (a  de- 
posit of  the  glacial  period),  showing  that 
man  was  in  the  valley  of  the  Missouri  River 


68  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

before  these  floods,  and  very  likely  was  ex- 
terminated by  them. 

At  Kief,  on  the  Dneiper  River,  in  the  west- 
ern part  of  Asia,  Prof.  Armaschevsky  has 
found  human  implements  and  burnt  stones 
in  connection  with  the  bones  of  extinct  ani- 
mals, at  a  depth  of  fifty-three  feet  below  the 
undisturbed  surface  of  the  glacial  deposit  of 
loess  which  covers  the  region.  This  dis- 
covery was  at  an  elevation  of  three  hundred 
feet  above  the  river,  where  an  old  camping 
place  of  paleolithic  men  rested  on  the  sur- 
face of  a  geological  deposit  containing  gran- 
ite pebbles  from  Scandinavia,  about  two 
hundred  miles  away. 

The  ultimate  origin  of  the  deposits  of  loess 
is  glacial.  For  microscopic  examination  shows 
that  the  particles  of  loess  the  world  over  are 
of  mechanical  origin.  Chemical  analysis  also 
shows  that  loess  is  not  clay,  but  ex- 
tremely fine  sand,  with  a  little  carbonate  of 
lime.  In  the  United  States  it  is  practically 
limited  to  those  portions  of  the  Mississippi 
and  the  Missouri  Valleys  contiguous  to  the 
glacial  area  and  to  the  lines  of  drainage 
leading  from  it.  In  Europe  the  great  depos- 
its of  loess  are  those  over  the  southern 
plains  of  Russia,  which  form  the  belt  of 
black  earth  which  produces  such  wonderful 
crops  of  wheat  and  other  cereals.  In  Cen- 
tral Europe  and  in  Central  Asia  the  deposits 
may  easily  have  been  derived  from  the  Alps 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  69 

and  the  high  mountains  of  Central  Asia. 
Similar  extensive  deposits  of  loess  occur  in 
the  valley  of  the  Araxes  in  Armenia,  up  to 
the  very  base  of  Mt.  Ararat,  where  tradition 
says  the  ark  rested. 

The  facts  connected  with  loess  every- 
where strongly  confirm  other  evidences  point- 
ing to  the  occurrence  of  a  recent  catastrophe 
analogous  to  the  Bible  account  of  Noah's 
flood.  A  single  illustration  must  suffice.  The 
greater  part  of  the  island  of  Guernsey  in  the 
English  Channel  consists  of  a  plateau  of 
granitic  rocks  from  three  hundred  to  three 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  above  the  sea  level, 
but  without  any  commanding  heights.  The 
plateau  is  covered  by  a  deposit  of  loess  from 
five  to  ten  feet  thick  extending  over  the 
highest  points  of  the  surface.  In  character 
this  is  identical  with  that  on  the  mainland. 
Profs.  Jam.es,  Geikie,  and  Prestwich,  tell 
us  that  it  is  not  possible  to  account  for  this 
deposit  of  loess  on  any  of  the  theories  of 
river  floods,  glacial  inundations,  or  rain 
wash  as  the  distributing  agencies.  Sub- 
mergence and  re-elevation  from  beneath 
deep  water  is  the  only  true  history. 

At  Sangatte,  in  France,  and  at  many 
places  in  the  south  of  England,  there  are 
deposits  of  angular  gravel  containing  pale- 
olithic implements  and  the  bones  of  many 
extinct  animals  associated  with  prehistoric 
men.       This   deposit   bears   no   relation  to 


70  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

the  present  drainage  system  of  the  coun- 
try, and  shows  clear  marks  of  rapid  and 
tumultuous  accumulation.  The  drift  is 
found  at  elevations  of  nine  hundred  feet 
and  far  removed  from  the  ocean,  and  cer- 
tain broken  bones  of  many  species  of  ex- 
tinct animals  in  such  a  perfect  state  as  to 
show  that  they  could  not  have  been  trans- 
ported for  a  long  distance.  They  show 
signs  of  fracture,  but  not  of  wear.  Prof. 
Prestwich  described  about  twenty-five  of 
these  rubble  drifts  which  occur  in  southern 
England  alone.  These  drifts  differ  from 
all  ordinary  gravel  in  that  (i)  the  frag- 
ments of  stone  and  the  fractured  bones  re- 
tain their  sharp  angles;  (2)  the  material  is 
all  of  local  origin ;  (3)  there  is  a  total  ab- 
sence of  marine  shells.  Submergence  and 
re-elevation  were  evidently  too  sudden  for 
marine  animals  to  make  them  their  home. 
''Ossiferous  fissures  abound  in  the  lime- 
stone regions  of  South  England,  on  the 
Island  of  Sicily  near  Palermo  on  the 
rock  of  Gibraltar,  and  on  Mt.  Santenay. 
They  are  fissures  in  the  rocks  open  at  the 
top  and  extending  down  perpendicularly  or 
nearly  so  to  the  depth  of  three  hundred  feet 
and  more.  These  fissures  are  filled  with  a 
mixture  of  broken  and  splintered  bone,  the 
fractured  edges  of  which  are  unworn  and 
sharp.  They  are  rock  fragments,  earth  and 
clay   through   which   lime   has  filtered,  the 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  71 

mixture   of  which   is   called  breccia.       The 
bones   of  the   animals    found   are    essentially 
those  representatives  of  extinct  species  al- 
ready named  in  the  first  part  of  this  chapter. 
That  these  fissures  have  been  filled  from 
above  is  acknowledged  by  all.      That  they 
did  not  fall  in,  as  by  accident,  is   evident 
from  the  fact  that  in  no  case  has  a  complete 
skeleton  of  any  animal  been  found,    or  scat- 
tered bones  to  complete  a  skeleton.      The 
question  then  arises  how  to  account  for  this 
mixture  of  sharp-edged  bones  and  stones  in 
a  deep  crevice  at  the  very  top  of  a  mountain 
— especially,  how  to  account  for  such  a  mix- 
ture  of  herbivorous   with  carnivorous   ani- 
mals, their  avowed  enemies.     It  could  only 
have    been    a   great    and    common    danger, 
such  as  the  sinking  of  the  earth  and  the  en- 
croachment of  the  sea,  that  could  have  so 
paralyzed  their  natural  instincts  as  to  have 
driven   those   various   animals   to   flock   to- 
gether   in    search    of   a    common    place    or 
refuge,  as  the  top  of  Gibraltar,  for  example, 
from    a    catastrophe    which    threatened    all 
alike.     But  the  hills  sank  beneath  the  waters 
and  they  were  drowned ;  and  when  the  hills 
suddenly   emerged,   the   downward   current 
of  the  water  presumably  carried  their  bones 
into  the  crevices. 

In  the  Sicilian  area  there  was  an  amphi- 
theater of  steep  hills  encircling  the  great 
plain  on  all  sides  except  the  seaward  side,  on 


72  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATUEE 

the  slope  of  which  the  Cave  of  San  Giro  is 
located.  Granting  the  submergence  theory, 
as  the  waters  rose,  the  area  became  more 
and  more  circumscribed  and  retreat  more 
and  more  impossible,  until  at  last  the  great 
herds  of  hippopotami  and  other  wild  ani- 
mals were  dirven  together  at  the  base  of  the 
hill,  where  the  heavier  animals  were 
stopped  by  impassable  precipices,  while  the 
more  agile  escaped  to  the  mountain  beyond. 
Hence  their  bones  are  not  found  here.  Re- 
treat being  entirely  cut  oflf,  the  only  paths 
yet  open  to  the  imprisoned  herds  were  those 
that  led  to  the  cave,  a  little  above  the  level 
of  the  plain.  Hither  they  must  have 
thronged  in  multitudes,  rushing  into  the 
caves  where,  overtaken  by  the  water,  they 
perished.  As  the  land  rose  from  beneath 
the  water  (per  hypothesis)  the  rocky  debris 
in  the  sides  of  the  hills  was  hurled  down  by 
the  effluent  waters  on  the  piles  of  bones 
below.  More  than  twenty  tons  of  bones 
were  shipped  from  this  one  place  for  com- 
merical  purposes  during  the  first  six  months 
after  their  discovery. 

Add  to  all  this  the  fact  that  at  the  present 
time  there  are  arctic  seals  in  the  waters  of 
the  Gaspian  Sea  and  Baikal  Lake,  and  you 
will  find  that  there  is  no  theory  that  will 
account  for  the  facts,  apart  from  the  theory 
that  accords  with  the  account  of  the  flood 
in  the  days  of  Noah.     The  fountains  of  the 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  73 

deep  were  opened  and  the  waters  returned 
from  off  the  earth.  The  earth  was  sub- 
merged and  re-elevated  from  beneath  deep 
waters  after  a  brief  time.  The  pages  of 
Nature's  Book  read  like  the  Bible  of  God's 
Word. 

Still  further  confirmation  is  added  to  the 
account  of  the  flood  as  found  in  the  Bible  of 
Nature  and  the   Bible   of  Grace,  when  we 
remember  that  similar  traditions  are  found 
among  nearly  all  the  nations  and  tribes  of 
the  world.      Indeed  so  persistent  and  wide- 
spread are  these  traditions  that  those  who 
have   carefully   studied   the   subject   cannot 
resist  the  conviction  that  they  relate  to  a 
common  event  with  which  the  ancestors  of 
the   world's   present   population   were    eye- 
witnesses.    This  tradition,   as   might  be   ex- 
pected, took  on  such  a   local  coloring  and 
extravagant   inventions   that   the   kernel   of 
truth  has  become  much  warped.      The  ac- 
count in  Genesis  stands  out  conspicuously 
among   them   all   as   the   Divine   Word   re- 
vealed of  God  in  connection  with  the  catas- 
trophe.     That  the   reader  may  compare  it 
with  the   Bible   narrative,   and   for  conven- 
ience, we  place  on  opposite  pages  the  Bible 
story   and   a   translation   of   the   cuneiform 
tables   discovered   by   George   Smith   about 
1870  and  supposed  to  date  back  at  least  as 
far  as  300  B.  C. 


74  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

BIBLE  ACCOUNT 

**Gen.  VI.  5.  And  God  saw  that  the 
wickedness  of  man  was  great  in  the  earth, 
and  that  every  imagination  of  the  thoughts 
of  his  heart  was  only  evil  continually.  6. 
And  it  repenteth  the  Lord  that  he  had  made 
man  on  the  earth,  and  it  grieved  him  at  his 
heart.  7.  And  the  Lord  said,  I  will  destroy 
man^  whom  I  have  created,  from  the  face  of 
the  earth;  both  man,  and  beast,  and  the 
creeping  thing,  and  the  fowls  of  the  air;  for 
it  repenteth  me  that  I  have  made  them.  8 
But  Noah  found  grace  in  the  eyes  of  the 
Lord. 

"9.  These  are  the  generations  of  Noah: 
Noah  was  a  just  man  and  perfect  in  his 
generations,  and  Noah  walked  with  God. 
10.  And  Noah  begat  three  sons,  Shem, 
Ham,  and  Japheth.  11.  The  earth  also  was 
corrupt  before  God,  and  the  earth  was  filled 
with  violence.  12.  And  God  looked  upon 
the  earth,  and,  behold,  it  was  corrupt;  for 
all  flesh  had  corrupted  his  way  upon  the 
earth. 

"13.  And  God  said  unto  Noah,  The  end  of 
all  flesh  is  come  before  me ;  for  the  earth  is 
filled  with  violence  through  them:  and,  be- 
hold, I  will  destroy  them  with  the  earth. 
14.  Make  thee  an  ark  of  gopher  wood; 
rooms  shalt  thou  make  in  the  ark,  and 
shalt  pitch  it  within  and  without  with  pitch. 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  75 

15.  And  this  is  the  fashion  which  thou  shalt 
make  it  of :  The  length  of  the  ark  shall  be 
three  hundred  cubits,  the  breadth  of  it  fifty- 
cubits,  and  the  height  of  it  thirty  cubits. 

16.  Window  shalt  thou  make  to  the  ark,  and 
in  a  cubit  shalt  thou  finish  it  above  and  the 
door  of  the  ark  shalt  thou  set  in  the  side 
thereof;  with  lower,  second,  and  third 
stories  shalt  thou  make  it.  17.  And,  behold, 
I,  even  I,  do  bring  a  flood  of  waters  upon 
the  earth,  to  destroy  all  flesh,  wherein  is  the 
breath  of  life,  from  under  heaven ;  and 
every  thing  that  is  in  the  earth  shall  die. 
18.  But  with  thee  will  I  establish  my  cov- 
enant; and  thou  shalt  come  into  the  ark; 
thou,  and  thy  sons,  and  thy  wife,  and  thy 
sons'  wives  with  thee.  19.  And  of  every 
living  thing  of  all  flesh,  two  of  every  sort 
shalt  thou  bring  into  the  ark,  to  keep  them 
alive  with  thee;  they  shall  be  male  and  fe- 
male. 20.  Of  fowls  after  their  kind,  and  of 
cattle  after  their  kind;  of  every  creeping 
thing  of  the  earth  after  his  kind;  two  of 
every  sort  shall  come  unto  thee,  to  keep 
them  alive.  21.  And  take  thou  unto  thee  of 
all  food  that  is  eaten,  and  thou  shalt  gather 
it  to  thee ;  and  it  shall  be  for  food  for  thee 
and  for  them.  22.  Thus  did  Noah;  accord- 
ing to  all  that  God  commanded  him,  so  did 

he. 

VII.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Noah,  Come 
thou,  and  all  thy  house  into  the  ark;  for 


76  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

thee  have  I  seen  righteous  before  me  in 
this  generation.  2.  Of  every  clean  beast 
thou  shalt  take  to  thee  by  sevens,  the  male 
and  his  female ;  and  of  beasts  that  are  not 
clean  by  two,  the  male  and  his  female.  3. 
Of  fowls  of  the  air  by  sevens,  the  male  and 
the  female ;  to  keep  seed  alive  upon  the  face 
of  all  the  earth.  4.  For  yet  seven  days,  and 
I  will  cause  it  to  rain  upon  the  earth  forty 
days  and  forty  nights;  and  every  living 
substance  that  I  have  made  will  I  destroy 
from  off  the  face  of  the  earth.  5.  And  Noah 
did  according  to  all  the  Lord  commanded 
him. 

"6.  And  Noah  was  six  hundred  years  old 
when  the  flood  of  waters  was  upon  the 
earth.  7.  And  Noah  went  in,  and  his  sons, 
and  his  wife,  and  his  sons'  wives,  with  him, 
into  the  ark,  because  of  the  waters  of  the 
flood.  8.  Of  clean  beasts,  and  of  beasts 
that  are  not  clean,  and  of  fowls,  and  of 
every  thing  that  creepeth  upon  the  earth, 
9.  There  went  in  two  and  two  unto  Noah 
into  the  ark,  the  male  and  female,  as  God 
had  commanded  Noah.  10.  And  it  came  to 
pass,  after  seven  days,  that  the  waters  of 
the  flood  were  upon  the  earth.  11.  In  the 
six  hundredth  year  of  Noah's  life,  in  the 
second  month,  the  seventeenth  day  of  the 
month,  the  same  day  were  all  the  fountains 
of  the  great  deep  broken  up,  and  the  win- 
dows of  heaven  were  opened.     12.  And  the 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  77 

rain  was  upon  the  earth  forty  days  and 
forty  nights. 

"13.  In  the  selfsame  day  entered  Noah, 
and  Shem,  and  Ham,  and  Japheth,  the  sons 
of  Noah,  and  Noah's  wife,  and  the  three 
wives  of  his  sons  with  them,  into  the  ark; 
14.  They,  and  every  beast  after  his  kind, 
and  all  the  cattle  after  their  kind,  and  every 
creeping  thing  that  creepeth  upon  the  earth 
after  his  kind,  and  every  fowl  after  his  kind, 
every  bird  of  every  sort.  15.  And  they 
went  in  unto  Noah  into  the  ark,  two  and 
two  of  all  flesh,  wherein  is  the  breath  of 
life.  16.  And  they  that  went  in,  went  in 
male  and  female  of  all  flesh,  as  God  had  com- 
manded him :  and  the  Lord  shut  him  in. 
17.  And  the  flood  was  forty  days  upon  the 
earth ;  and  the  waters  increased ;  and  bare 
up  the  ark,  and  it  was  lifted  up  above  the 
earth.  18.  And  the  waters  prevailed,  and 
were  increased  greatly  upon  the  earth ;  and 
the  ark  went  upon  the  face  of  the  waters. 
IQ.  And  the  waters  prevailed  exceedingly 
upon  the  earth ;  and  all  the  high  hills,  that 
were  under  the  whole  heaven,  were  covered, 

20.  Fifteen  cubits  upward  did  the  waters 
prevail ;  and  the   mountains   were   covered. 

21.  And  all  flesh  died  that  moved  upon  the 
earth,  both  of  fowl,  and  of  cattle,  and  of 
beast,  and  of  every  creeping  thing  that 
creepeth   upon   the   earth,   and   every  man : 

22.  All  in  whose  nostrils  was  the  breath  of 


78  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

life,  of  all  that  was  in  the  dry  land,  died. 
23.  And  every  living  substance  was  destroyed 
which  was  upon  the  face  of  the  ground, 
both  man,  and  cattle,  and  the  creeping 
things,  and  the  fowl  of  the  heaven ;  and  they 
were  destroyed  from  the  earth;  and  Noah 
only  remained  alive,  and  they  were  with 
him  in  the  ark.  24.  And  the  waters  pre- 
vailed upon  the  earth  an  hundred  and  fifty 
days. 

VIII.  And  God  remembered  Noah,  and 
every  living  thing,  and  all  the  cattle  that 
was  with  him  in  the  ark;  and  God  made  a 
wind  to  pass  over  the  earth ;  and  the  waters 
assuaged ;  2.  The  fountains  also  of  the 
deep  and  the  windows  of  heaven  were 
stopped,  and  the  rain  from  heaven  was  re- 
strained;  3.  And  the  waters  returned  from 
oflf  the  earth  continually :  and  after  the  end 
of  the  hundred  and  fifty  days  the  waters 
were  abated.  4.  And  the  ark  rested  in  the 
seventh  month,  on  the  seventeenth  day  of 
the  month,  upon  the  mountains  of  Ararat. 
5.  And  the  waters  decreased  continually 
until  the  tenth  month:  in  the  tenth  month, 
on  the  first  day  of  the  month,  were  the 
tops  of  the  mountains  seen. 

"6.  And  it  came  to  pass,  at  the  end  of 
forty  days,  that  Noah  opened  the  window 
of  the  ark  which  he  had  made.  7.  And  he 
sent  forth  a  raven,  which  went  forth  to  and 
fro,  until  the  waters  were  dried  up  from  off 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  79 

the  earth.  8.  Also  he  sent  forth  a  dove  from 
him,  to  see  if  the  waters  were  abated  from 
of?  the  face  of  the  ground.  9.  But  the  dove 
found  no  rest  for  the  sole  of  her  foot,  and 
she  returned  unto  him  into  the  ark,  for  the 
waters  were  on  the  face  of  the  whole  earth; 
then  he  put  forth  his  hand,  and  took  her, 
and  pulled  her  in  unto  him  into  the  ark.  10. 
And  he  stayed  yet  other  seven  days,  and 
again  he  sent  forth  the  dove  out  of  the  ark. 
II.  And  the  dove  came  in  to  him  in  the 
evening;  and,  lo,  in  her  mouth  was  an  olive 
leaf,  pluckt  off:  so  Noah  knew  that  the 
waters  were  abated  from  off  the  earth.  12. 
And  he  stayed  yet  other  seven  days,  and 
sent  forth  the  dove,  which  returned  not 
again  unto  him  any  more. 

"13.  And  it  came  to  pass,  in  the  six  hun- 
dreth  and  first  year,  in  the  first  month,  the 
first  day  of  the  month,  the  waters  were 
dried  up  from  off  the  earth :  and  Noah  re- 
moved the  covering  of  the  ark,  and  looked, 
and  behold,  the  face  of  the  ground  was  dry. 
14.  And  in  the  second  month,  on  the 
seventh  and  twentieth  day  of  the  month, 
was  the  earth  dried.  15.  And  God  spake 
unto  Noah,  saying,  16.  Go  forth  of  the  ark, 
thou,  and  thy  wife,  and  thy  sons,  and  thy 
sons'  wives  with  thee.  17.  Bring  forth  with 
thee  every  living  thing  that  is  with  thee  of 
all  flesh,  both  of  fowl,  and  of  cattle,  and  of 
every  creeping  thing  that  creepeth  upon  the 


80  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

earth;  that  they  may  breed  abundantly  in 
the  earth,  and  be  fruitful,  and  multiply 
upon  the  earth.  i8.  And  Noah  went  forth, 
and  his  sons,  and  his  wife,  and  his  sons' 
wives  with  him:  9.  Every  beast,  every 
creeping  thing,  and  every  fowl,  and  what- 
soever creepeth  upon  the  earth,  after  their 
kinds,  went  forth  out  of  the  ark. 

"20.  And  Noah  builded  an  altar  unto  the 
Lord;  and  took  of  every  clean  beast,  and  of 
every  clean  fowl,  and  offered  burnt  offer- 
ings on  the  altar.  21.  And  the  Lord  smelled 
a  sweet  savour:  and  the  Lord  said  in  his 
heart,  I  will  not  again  curse  the  ground  any 
more  for  man's  sake ;  for  the  imagination  of 
man's  heart  is  evil  from  his  youth :  neither 
will  I  again  smite  any  more  every  thing 
living,  as  I  have  done.  22.  While  the  earth 
remaineth,  seedtime  and  harvest,  and  cold 
and  heat,  and  summer  and  winter,  and  day 
and  night,  shall  not  cease. 

IX.  And  God  blessed  Noah  and  his  sons, 
and  said  unto  them,  Be  fruitful,  and  multi- 
ply, and  replenish  the  earth.  2.  And  the 
fear  of  you,  and  the  dread  of  you,  shall  be 
upon  every  beast  of  the  earth,  and  upon 
every  fowl  of  the  air,  upon  all  that  moveth 
upon  the  earth,  and  upon  all  the  fishes  of 
the  sea;  into  your  hand  are  they  delivered. 
3.  Every  moving  thing  that  liveth  shall  be 
meat  for  you ;  even  as  the  green  herb  have 
I  given  you  all  things.     4.    But  flesh  with 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  81 

the  life  thereof,  which  is  the  blood  thereof 
shall  ye  not  eat.  5.  And  surely  your  blood 
of  your  lives  will  I  require ;  at  the  hand  of 
every  beast  will  I  require  it,  and  at  the  hand 
of  man ;  at  the  hand  of  every  man's  brother 
will  I  require  the  life  of  man.  6.  Who  so 
sheddeth  man's  blood,  by  man  shall  his 
blood  be  shed:  for  in  the  image  of  God 
made  he  man.  7.  And  you,  be  ye  fruitful, 
and  multiply:  bring  forth  abundantly  in 
the  earth,  and  multiply  therein. 

"8.  And  God  spake  unto  Noah,  and  to  his 
sons  with  him,  saying,  9.    And  I,  behold,  I 
establish  my  covenant  with  you,  and  with 
your  seed  after  you :      10.    And  with  every 
living  creature  that  is  with  you,  of  the  fowl, 
of  the  cattle,  and  of  every  beast  of  the  earth 
with  you;  from  all  that  go  out  of  the  ark, 
to  every  beast  of  the  earth:  11.    And  I  will 
establish   my   covenant   with   you;   neither 
shall  all     flesh  be  cut  off  any  more  by  the 
waters  of  a  flood;  neither  shall  there  any 
more  be  a  flood  to  destroy  the  earth.     12. 
And  God  said.  This  is  the  token  of  the  cove- 
nant which  I  make  between  me  and  you, 
and  every  living  creature  that  is  with  you, 
for  perpetual  generations :  13.     I  do  set  my 
bow  in  the  cloud,  and  it  shall  be  for  a  token 
of  a  covenant  between  me  and  the   earth. 
14.    And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  when  I  bring 
a  cloud  over  the  earth,  that  the  bow  shall 
be  seen  in  the  cloud:  15.  And  I  will  remem- 


82  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

ber  my  covenant,  which  is  between  me  and 
you,  and  every  living  creature  of  all  flesh; 
and  the  waters  shall  no  more  become  a  flood 
to  destroy  all  flesh.  i6.  And  the  bow  shall 
be  in  the  cloud ;  and  I  will  look  upon  it,  that 
I  may  remember  the  everlasting  covenant 
between  God  and  every  living  creature  of 
all  flesh  that  is  upon  the  earth.  17.  And 
God  said  unto  Noah,  This  is  the  token  of  the 
covenant,  which  I  have  established  between 
me  and  all  flesh  that  is  upon  the  earth." 

CUNEIFORM  ACCOUNT 


4 

5 

6 
I 
8 

9 

ID 
II 


Nuh-napishtim  saith  to  him,  even  to 
Gilgamesh : 

Let  me  unfold  to  thee,  Gilgamesh,  a 
secret  story, 

And  the  decree  of  the  gods  let  me  tell 
thee! 

Shurippak,  a  city  thou  knowest, — 
On    the    banks    of    the    Euphrates  it 
lieth ; 
That  city  was  full  of  violence,  and  the 

gods  within  it — 
To  make  a   flood    their    heart    urged 
them,  even  the  mighty  gods. 
Their,   father     (i.    e.    adviser:    Gen 
45  :8)  was  Anu, 

Their  counsellor  the  warrior  Bel 
Their  throne-bearer  Ninib, 
Their  champion,  Innugi. 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  8S 

12.  Nin-igi-azeg,    even,    la,    had    sat    or 
lurked  near  them,  and 

13.  Their  talk   (or  purpose)   he  repeated 
to  the  reed-fence : 

14.  'Reed-fence  !  House-wall,  house-wall ! 

15.  Reed-fence,     listen!    and     house-wall 
give  heed! 

16.  Man    of    Shurippak,    son    of    Ubara- 
Tutu, 

17.  Pull    down  the    house,    and    build    a 
ship! 

18.  Leave  goods,  seek  life! 

19.  Property  forsake,  and  life  preserve! 

20.  Cause  seed  of  life  of  every  sort  to  go 

up  into  the  ship! 

21.  The  ship  which  thou  shalt  build, 

22.  Exact  be  its  dimensions, 

23.  Equal  be  its  breadth  and  its  length! 

24.  On  the  ocean  launch  it ! 

25.  I  understood,   and  said    unto    la    my 

Lord : 

26.  *The  command,  my  lord,  which  thou 

spakest  thus, 

27.  I  honour,  I  will  do  it ! 

28.  But  what  shall  I  answer  the  city,  the 
people,  and  the  elders? 

29.  la  framed  his  mouth  and  spaketh, 

30.  He  saith  unto  me,  his  slave : 

31.  Answer   thus   shalt   thou   make   unto 

them : 

32.  "Bel  hath  rejected  and  hateth  me,  and 


t4k  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

33.  I  may  no  longer  dwell  in  your  city, 

and 

34.  Toward  Bel's  ground  I  may  no  longer 

turn  my  face:  but 

35.  I  will  go  down  to  the  ocean,  and  with 

la  my  lord  will  I  dwell! 

36.  Upon  you  it  will  rain  heavily   ..." 

(About   twelve   lines   are   broken   or 
have  entirely  disappeared) 

37.  On  the  fifth  day  I  laid  down  the  frame 

of  it; 

38.  At  its  bulwarks  (?)  its  sides  were  140 

cubits  high ; 

39.  The    border    of   its    top    equaled    140 
cubits  (i.  e.  every  way). 

40.  I   laid  down  its  form,  I  figured   (or 
fashioned)  it; 

41.  I  constructed  it  in  six  stories, 

43.  Dividing  it  into  seven  compartments; 

44.  Water-pegs  inside  it  I  drove  it  in  (to 

stop  leaks.) 

45.  I  chose  a  mast  (or  rudder-pole),  and 
supplied  what  was  necessary ; 

46.  Six  sars  of  bitumen  I  poured  over  the 

outside. 

47.  Three  sars  of  bitumen  I  poured  over 

the  inside. 

48.  While  the  basket-bearers  were  carry- 

ing three  sars  of  oil  abroad, 

49.  I  reserved  one  sar  of  oil,  which  the 
libations  ( ?)  consumed  ; 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  85 

50.  Two  sars  of  oil  the  shipmen  stowed 
away. 

51.  For    the    men's    food    I    slaughtered 
oxen  ; 

52.  I  slew  small  cattle  every  day  ; 

53-     New  wine,  sesame  wine,  oil  and  grape 
wine, 

53.  The  people  I  gave  to  drink,  like  the 

water  of  a  river. 
55-     A    feast    I    made,    like    New    Year's 
Day  ....  (Five  lines.) 

56.  With  all  that  I  possessed  I  freighted 

it; 

57.  With  all  that  I  had  of  silver  I  freight- 
ed it; 

58.  With  all  that  I  had  of  gold  I  freighted 

it; 
59-     With  all  that  I  had  of  seed  of  life  of 
every  sort  I  freighted  it ; 

60.  I  put  on  board  all  my  family  and  my 

clan; 

61.  Cattle  of  the  field,  wild  beasts  of  the 
field,  all  the  craftsmen,  I  put  on 
board. 

62.  A  time  Samas  appointed  saying: — 

63.  'When  the  Lord  of  Storm  at  eventide 

causes  the  heavens  to  rain  heavily, 

64.  Enter  into  the  ship,  and  shut  thy 
door!'  -^ 

65.  That  time  came: 

66.  The  Lord  of  Storm  at  eventide  caused 

the  heavens  to  rain  heavily. 


86  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

67.  I  dreaded  the  appearance  of  day; 

68.  I  was  afraid  of  beholding  day ; 

69.  I  entered  the  ship  and  shut  me  my 
door. 

70.  For  the  steering  of  the  ship,  to  Bezur- 

Bel,  the  shipman 

71.  The  great  vessel  (deckhouse  ?)  I 
handed  over,  with  its  freight  (or 
gear). 

72.  When    the    first    light    of    dawn    ap- 

peared, 

73.  There    rose    from    the    foundation    of 

heaven  a  black  cloud; 

74.  Rimmon  in  the  heart  of  it  thunders, 
and 

75.  Nebo  and  Merodach  march  before; 

76.  The  Throne-bearers  march  o'er  moun- 

tain and  plain. 
*jj.     The     mighty     Dibbarra     (or     Girra) 
wrenches  away  the  helm; 

78.  Ninib  goes  on,  pouring  out  ruin. 

79.  The    Anunnaki    (earth-spirits)    lifted 

torches ; 

80.  With    their    sheen    they    lighten    the 

world. 

81.  Rimmon's       violence       reacheth       to 

heaven; 

82.  Whatever   is   bright  he   turneth   into 

darkness. 

83 

84.  One  day  the  southern  blast 

85.  Hard  it  blew,  and  .   .   . 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  87 

86.  Like   a   battle-charge   upon   mankind 

rush  the  waters. 

87.  One  no  longer  sees  another; 

88.  No  more  men  discerned  in  (described 
from)  heaven. 

89.  The  gods  were  dismayed  at  the  flood, 

and 

90.  Sought    refuge    in    ascending   to    the 

highest    heaven    (lit.    the   heaven    of 
Anu)  : 

91.  The  gods  cowered  like  dogs;  on  the 

battlements       (of       heaven)       they 
crouched. 

92.  Ishtar  screams  like  a  woman  in  tra- 

vail, 

93.  The  loud-voiced  Lady  of  the  gods  ex- 

claims : 

94.  'Yon   generation    is   turned   again   to 
clay! 

95.  As  I  in  the  assembly  of  the  gods  fore- 

told the  evil — 

96.  Like  as  I  foretold  in  the  assemby  of 

the  gods  the  evil : — 

97.  A  tempest  for  the  destruction  of  my 

people  I  foretold. 

98.  But  I  will   give  birth  to  my  people 

(again),  though 

99.  Like  the  fury  of  fishes  they  fill  the 
sea! 

100.     The   gods   because   of  the   Anunnaki 
wept  with  her ; 


88  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

loi.     The  gods  were  downcast,  they  sate 
a-weeping ; 

102.  Closed  were  their  lips  .  .  . 

103.  During  six  days  and  nights. 

104.  Wind,  flood,  storm,  even  more  fiercely 
whelmed  the  land. 

105.  When  the  seventh  day  came,  storm 

(and)   flood  ceased  the  battle, 

106.  Wherein   they  had  contended   like  a 

host: 

107.  The  sea  lulled,  the  blast  fell,  the  flood 

ceased. 

108.  I  looked  for  the  people  (udma),  with 

a  cry  of  lamentation; 

109.  But  all  mankind  had  turned  again  to 
clay : 

no.     The  tilled  land  was  become  like  the 
waste. 

111.  I   opened  the  window,   and   daylight 
fell  upon  my  cheeks ; 

112.  Crouching  I  sit   (and)  weep; 

113.  Over  my  cheeks  course  my  tears. 

114.  I  looked  at  the  quarters  (of  heaven), 

the  borders  of  the  sea; 

115.  Toward    the    twelfth   point    rose   the 
land. 

116.  To   the    country    of   *JS[izir    the    ship 
made  way; 

117.  The  mountain  of  the  country  of  Nizir 

caught  the  ship,  and  suffered  it  not 
to  stir. 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  89 

Ii8.     One  day,  a  second  day,  the  mountain 
of  Nizir,  etc.  (as  before)  ; 

119.  A  third  day,  a  fourth  day,  the  moun- 

tain of  Nizir,  etc.  (as  before.) 

120.  A  fifth,  a  sixth,  the  mountain  of  Nizir, 

etc.  (as  before.) 

121.  But,  when  the  seventh  day  was  come, 

122.  I  brought  out  a  dove,  (and)  let  it  go, 

123.  The  dove  went  to  and  fro,  but 

124.  Found     no     foothold     (lit.     standing 
place),  and  returned 

125.  Then  I  brought  out  a  swallow  (and) 

let  it  go. 

126.  The  swallow  went  to  and  fro,  but 

127.  Found  no  foothold,  and  returned. 

128.  Then  I  brought  out  a  raven  (and)  let 

it  go: 

129.  The  raven  went  off,  noticed  the  dry- 

ing of  the  water,  and 

130.  Feeding,   wading,   croaking,   returned 
not. 

131.  Then  I  brought  out   (everything)   to 

the  four  winds,  offered  victims, 

132.  Made   an   offering   of   incense   on   the 
mountain  top; 

133.  Seven  and  seven  tripods  I  set, 

134.  Into  their  bowels  I   poured  calamus, 

cedar,  fragrant  herbs ; 

135.  The  gods  snuffed  the  odour, 

136.  The  gods  snuffed  the  pleasant  odour, 

137.  The  gods  like  flies  swarmed  above  the 

sacrificer. 


»0  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

138.     But  when  Ishtar  was  come  from  afar, 
39.     She  lifted    up    the    Great    Gems(?), 
which  Anu   had  made  to  adorn  her. 

140.  These  gods'  (she  cried),  'by  mine 
azure  collar  (lit.  by  the  lapis  lazuli  of 
my  neck),  I  will  never  forget! 

141.  These  days  will  I  bear  in  mind,  and 
nevermore  forget! 

142.  Let  the  gods  go  to  the  incense-offer- 
ing! 

143.  (But)  let  Bel  never  go  to  the  incense- 
offering  ! 

144.  Forasmuch  as  he  took  no  counsel,  but 
caused  the  flood, 

145.  And  delivered  my  people  to  destruc- 
tion.' 

146.  But  when  Bel  was  come  from  afar, 
147-     We  saw  the  ship,  and  Bel  waxed  wrath- 
ful; 

148.  He  was  filled  with  rage  at  the  gods, 
(and)  the  Igigi  (i.  e.  the  spirits  of 
heaven) : 

149-     'Some  soul'  (he  cried)  'hath  escaped! 

150.  Let  not  a  man  survive  the  destruc- 
tion ! 

151.  Ninib  frameth  his  mouth  and  speak- 

eth-— 

152.  He  saith  to  the  warrior  Bel: 

153.  'Who  then  but  la  doeth  the  thing? 

154.  la  is  versed  in  every  wile/ 

155.  la  frameth  his  mouth  and  speaketh — 

156.  He  saith  to  the  warrior  Bel : 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  91 

157.  Thou,  O  sage  of  the  gods,  (and) 
warrior — 

158.  In  nowise  hast  thou  been  well-coun- 
selled in  causing  a  flood! 

159.  On  the  sinner  lay  his  sin! 

160.  On  the  guilty  lay  his  guilt! 

161.  (But)  remit  (somewhat)  !  let  him  not 
be  cut  off!  forbear!  let  him  not  be 
swept  away! 

162.  Instead  of  thy  causing  a  flood, 

163.  Let  the  lion  come  and  minish  man- 
kind ! 

164.  Instead  of  thy  causing  a  flood, 

165.  Let  the  Leopard  come  and  minish 
mankind ! 

166.  Instead  of  thy  causing  a  flood, 

167.  Let  famine  break  out  and  desolate 
the  land. 

168.  Instead  of  thy  causing  a  flood, 

169.  Let  pestilence  (lit.  Girra ;  i.  e.  the  god 
of   plague)    come  and   slay  mankind! 

170.  I  divulged  not  the  decision  of  the 
mighty  gods; 

171.  (Someone)  caused  Atranasis  to  see 
visions,  and  so  he  heard  the  decision 
of  the  gods.' 

172.  Thereupon  he  took  counsel  with  him- 

self (or  made  up  his  mind)  ; 

173.  Bel  came  on  board  the  ship, 

174.  Seized  my  hand  and  led  me  up  (out 
of  the  ship), 


92  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

175.  Led  up    my    wife    (and)     made    her 

kneel  beside  me; 

176.  He  turned  us  face  to  face,  and  stand- 
ing between  us  blessed  us,  (saying)  : 

177.  'Ere  this,  Nuh-napishtim  and  his  wife 

shall  be  like  us 

178.  But  now  Nuh-napishtim  and  his  wife 

shall  be  like  us  gods ! 

179.  Nuh-napishtim  shall  dwell  far  away 
from  men)  at  the  mouth  of  the 
rivers !' 

180.  Then   they   took    me,   and    made   me 

dwell  far  away,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
rivers." 

By  comparison  we  note  the  following: 

1.  The  Cuneiform  account  is  polytheistic 
(lines  3-17)  ;  the  Bible  account  is  monothe- 
istic. 

2.  The  Cuneiform  agrees  with  the  Bible 
in  making  the  Deluge  a  divine  punishment 
for  the  sins  of  the  people,     (lines  5,  6.) 

3.  In  all  the  traditions  the  ark  is  repre- 
sented as  floating  up  stream.  The  Bible 
represents  the  ark  as  finally  resting  in  the 
mountains  of  Ararat. 

4.  The  cuneiform  account  tells  of  the  col- 
lecting of  the  animals  for  preservation,  and 
in  this  agrees  with  the  iBible,  but  diflfers 
from  Genesis  when  it  includes  other  persons 
beside  the  family  of  the  builder.  (lines 
66-69.) 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  93 

5.  All  accounts  agree  with  Genesis  in 
sending  out  birds;  but  thev  differ  in  the 
details,     (lines  121-130.) 

6.  All  accounts  agree  in  the  building  of 
an  altar  to  offer  sacrifices  after  leaving  the 
ark.  The  cuneiform  account,  however,  has 
the  polytheistic   coloring,      (lines    132-143.) 

7.  Both  accounts  agree  in  stating  that 
the  human  race  shall  no  more  be  destroyed 
by  a  flood.     (Gen.  9:11 ;  lines .) 


84  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 


CHAPTER  V. 

The  Decalogue — In  Natural  History. 

I.  IV. 

V. 

VI. 

11.  VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 

III.  X. 

The  First  Commandment. 

"I  am  the  Lord  thy  God.  Thou  shalt 
have  no  other  gods  before  me,  etc." 

The  Second  Commandment. 

"Thou  shalt  not  take  the  name  of  the 
Lord  thy  God  in  vain ;  for  the  Lord  will  not 
hold  him  guiltless  that  taketh  His  name  in 


vam." 


The  Third  Commandment. 

"Remember  the  Sabbath  day  to  keep  it 
holy,  etc." 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  95 

The  Fourth  Commandment. 

"Honor  thy  father  and  thy  mother,  that 
thy  days  may  be  long  upon  the  land  which 
the  Lord  thy  God  giveth  thee." 

The  Fifth  Commandment. 
"Thou  Shalt  not  kill." 

The  Sixth  Commandment. 
"Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery." 

The  Seventh  Commandment. 
"Thou  shalt  not  steal." 

The  Eighth  Commandment. 

"Thou  shalt  not  bear  false  witness  against 
thy  neighbor." 

The  Ninth  Commandment. 

"Thou  shalt  not  covet  thy  neighbor's 
house." 

The  Tenth  Commandment. 

"Thou  shalt  not  covet  thy  neighbor's  wife, 
nor  his  man-servant,  nor  his  maid-servant, 
nor  his  ox,  nor  his  ass,  nor  anything  that  is 
thy  neighbor's." 

On   the   surface    of    his    book,    entitled 


96  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

"Natural  Law  In  the  Spiritual  World,"  Sir 
Henry  Drummond  erred  in  asserting  that 
"the  laws  of  the  natural  and  the  spiritual 
realms  are  identical."  This  is  not  true  even 
of  laws  which  obtain  within  different  parts 
of  the  natural  world.  The  laws  of  chemistry 
and  physics,  for  example,  describe  the 
modes  of  action  of  energy  under  different 
conditions ;  and  a  law  of  description  of  the 
one  process  will  not  answer  for  the  other. 
But  the  truth  which  he  saw  and  sought  to 
lead  others  to  see  throughout  h:s  entire 
scientific  and  religious  work  was  the  reality 
of  the  underlying  spiritual  unity  of  the 
world.  Mr.  Drummond  said :  'T  am  well 
aware  that  many  see  no  such  thread  binding 
Nature  and  Grace.  Others  not  only  see  no 
thread,  but  see  no  use  in  one.  I  can  only 
say  that  for  me  there  is  no  alternative  but 
to  see  it.  Now  a  thing  that  we  cannot  help 
seeing  must  either  be  really  there,  or  one's 
vision  must  have  some  constitutional 
defect."  In  these  ten  commandments,  then, 
we  desire  the  reader  to  see,  not  arbitrary 
laws,  but  certain  fundamental  laws  or  uni- 
fying principles  constituting  the  background 
of  Natural  iHistory  and  making  of  all  the 
animal  kingdom  one  glorious  revelation. 
The  first  three  commandments  sum  up 
our  duty  to  God,  and  have  a  purely  spiritual 
bearing.  The  last  seven  refer  to  our  duty 
to  our  fellow-men  and  have  a  physical  bear- 


Am)  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  97 

ing.  There  is  nothing-  in  the  animal  world 
to  suggest  the  recognition  of  the  Supreme 
Being,  but  it  is  intensely  interesting  to 
observe  that,  for  the  animals,  man  is  a 
supreme  being,  as  God  intended  in  Genesis 
I  -.26 — supreme,  I  mean,  in  the  animal  king- 
dom. That  man  should  have  dominion  over 
the  beasts  of  the  field  and  the  fowls  of  the 
air,  is  a  fact  not  only  written  on  the  sacred 
page  of  Genesis,  but  manifest  to  every 
naturalist  who  studies  the  world's  fauna. 
Instinctively  the  lower  orders  of  creation 
show  a  kind  of  reverence  and  awe  for, 
obedience  to,  and  fear  and  trust  in  man — a 
faint  gl'mmering  of  the  beginning  of  mental 
attributes. 

Remarkable  indeed  that  a  dog,  a  horse,  an 
elephant,  should  come  and  go  at  the  bidding 
of  a  man.  But  more  remarkable  still  that 
the  beasts  of  the  forest  should  so  trust  and 
confide  in  him  that  in  times  of  great  peril 
they  will  go  to  him  for  protection  against 
a  superior  foe.  Dr.  G.  B.  Grinnell  relates 
that,  upon  a  certain  occasion,  when  out 
shooting  with  General  Custer's  party  near 
the  Black  Hills,  in  1874,  they  saw  a  falcon 
in  pursuit  of  a  wild  pigeon.  When  the 
pigeon  saw  it  could  not  escape  its  winged 
foe,  it  took  refuge  among  the  men,  resting 
on  one  of  the  saddles.  Another  instance  is 
given  by  George  F.  Guernsey,  who  says  that 
some  years  ago  a  neighbor  and  his  wife, 


98  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

Standing  in  their  cattle  yard,  saw  a  pack  of 
five  coyotes  chasing  a  fox.  The  fox  was 
nearly  worn  out  when  it  ran  right  up  to  the 
woman  and  crouched  for  protection  at  her 
feet. 

Earnest  Thompson  Seton  tells  the  follow- 
ing: "In  October  of  1898,  I  was  riding 
across  the  Bighorn  Basin  (Wyoming)  with 
Mrs.  Seton  and  A.  A.  Anderson,  when  we 
noticed  near  the  horizon  some  bright  white 
specks.  They  were  moving  about,  now  dis- 
appearing and  now  re-appearing.  Then  two 
of  them  seemed  to  dart  erratically  over  the 
plain,  keeping  always  just  so  far  apart.  Soon 
these  left  the  others  and  careered  about  like 
twin  meteors,  this  way  and  that,  then  our 
way;  at  first  in  changing  line,  but  later 
directly  toward  us.  Their  wonderful  speed 
soon  ate  up  the  intervening  mile  or  two  and 
we  now  saw  clearly  that  they  were  ante- 
lopes, one  in  pursuit  of  the  other.  High 
over  their  heads  a  golden  eagle  was  sailing. 
On  they  came ;  the  half-mile  shrank  to  a 
couple  of  hundred  yards,  and  we  saw  that 
they  were  bucks,  the  hinder  one  larger, 
dashing  straight  toward  us  still.  As  they 
yet  neared,  we  could  see  the  smaller  one 
making  desperate  efforts  to  avo-id  the  savage 
lunges  of  the  big  one's  horns,  and  barely 
maintaining  the  scant  six  feet  that  were  be- 
tween him  and  his  foe.  We  reined  up  to 
watch,  for  now  it  was  clear  that  the  smaller 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  99 

buck  had  been  defeated  in  battle  with  an 
exceptionally  vicious  rival  and  was  trying 
to  save  his  life  by  flight.     But  his  heavin| 
flanks  and  gasping,  dribbling  mouth  showed 
that  he  could   not   hold  out  much   longer. 
Straight  on  he  came  toward  us  whom  he 
fears  more  than  all  others.    He  was  between 
two  deaths  (it  would  seem)  ;  which  should 
he  choose,  he  seemed  not  to  hesitate— the 
two  hundred  yards  shrank  to  one  hundred 
the  hundred    to    fifty— then    the    pursuer 
slacked  his  speed.   It  would  be  folly  to  come 
farther.     But  the  fugitive  kept  on  until  he 
dashed  right  in  among  our  startled  horses. 
The  eagle  alighted  on  a  rock  two  hundred 
yards   away.     The  victorious  buck  veered 
off,    shaking    his    sharp,    black    horns    and 
circling  at  a  safe  distance  around  our  caval- 
cade to  intercept  his  victim  when  he  should 
come  out  on  the  other  side.    But  the  victim 
did  not  come  out.    He  felt  he  was  saved  and 
he  stayed  with  us.    The  other  buck,  seeing 
that  he  was  balked,  gave  up  the  attempt, 
and   turning  back,   sailed  across  the  plain 
until  he  became  again  a  white  speck  that 
joined  the  other  specks,  no  doubt  the  does 
that  had  caused  the  duel.     The  vanquished 
buck    beside    us    stood    panting,    with    his 
tongue  out  and  showing  every  sign  of  dire 
distress.     It  would  have  been  easy  to  lasso 
him,  but  none  of  us  had  any  desire  to  do 
him  harm.    In  a  very  short  time  he  regained 


100  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

his  wind,  and  having  seen  his  foe  away  at 
a  safe  distance,  he  left  our  company  to  go 
off  in  the  opposite  direction.  The  eagle 
realized  now  that  he  was  mistaken  in  sup- 
posing that  something  was  to  be  killed  and 
that  there  would  be  pickings  for  him.  He 
rose  in  haste  and  soared  to  a  safe  distance." 

These  illustrations  might  be  multiplied. 
While  man  is  the  only  being  that  has  a  soul 
made  in  the  image  and  likeness  of  God,  and 
hence  is  the  only  being  that  can  keep  the 
first  table  of  the  decalogue  (according  to 
the  spirit),  yet,  deeply  hidden  though  it  be, 
there  is  a  manifest  instinct  which  prompts 
the  animal  in  great  extremity  of  peril,  to 
seek  out  a  recognized  superior  being,  man, 
to  call  upon  him  by  coming  to  him  and 
expecting  to  find  mercy.  This,  after  all,  to 
a  considerable  degree,  is  contained  in  the 
germ  principles  of  the  first  three  command- 
ments though  it  is  entirely  a  blind  groping. 

The  physical  phase  of  the  third  command- 
ment may  be  illustrated  from  every  sphere 
of  nature.  One  or  two  must  suffice  to  show 
the  need  of  a  day  of  rest  in  seven. 
Page  after  page  of  testimony  is  at  hand 
from  eminent  physicians  to  show,  from  a 
purely  economical  viewpoint,  the  importance 
of  this  command.  Mechanics  tell  us  that 
even  locomotives  and  car-wheels  need  rest- 
days  to  give  the  best  results.  At  the  Dublin 
meeting  of  the  British  Association  for  the 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  101 

Advancement  of  Science,  on  the  fourth  of 
September,  1857,  Mr.  Bianconi,  to  whom, 
before  the  days  of  electricians,  Ireland  was 
greatly  mdebted  for  establishing  and  main- 
tammg  its  system  of  public  horse-cars,  pre- 
sented m  a  scientific  paper  the  results  of  his 
extensive   experiences.   ^I   found,"   he   said, 

that  1  could  work  a  horse  with  more  ad- 
vantage eight  hours  a  day  for  six  days,  than 
SIX  hours  a  day  for  seven  days ;  and  therefore 
I  discovered  that  by  not  working  on  Sunday 
I     made  a  saving  of  twelve  per     cent."     I 
remember  reading  somewhere  of  two  men 
who  were  engaged  in  a  similar  enterprise, 
each  man  employing  the  same  number  of 
horses.      (If   I    recall    correctly,   each    man 
owned  three  hundred    horses.)      One    man 
required  that  his  horses  work  seven  days  a 
week ;  the  other,  only  six  days  a  week.    The 
man  whose  horses  worked  s'x  days  did  more 
work  than  he  whose  horses  worked  seven. 
To  this  should  be  added  the  fact  that  the 
horses  of  the  Sunday  observer  lived  much 
longer  than  those  of  his  competitor. 

The  British  Parliament,  in  1832,  appointed 
a  committee,  with  Sir  Robert  Peel  as  cha'r- 
man,  to  investigate  these  two  facts:  viz., 
whether  men  who  labor  six  days  in  a  week 
are  healthier  and  live  longer  than  those  who 
labor  seven;  and,  secondly,  whether  they 
will  do  more  and  in  a  better  manner. 
Experiment  was  made  on  two  thousand  men 


102  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

through  a  series  of  years,  who  were  required 
to  work  seven  days  in  the  week.  To  render 
them  contented,  each  man  received  double 
pay  for  his  Sunday  work.  Two  evils  fol- 
lowed— physical  exhaustion  and  spiritual 
demoralization. 

The  fourth  commandment  emphasizes  due 
regard  for  parents  and  superiors.  It  is  the 
very  foundation-stone  of  all  government,  be- 
cause the  family  is  the  social  unit.  The  ani- 
mals obey  it  unconsciously.  Whenever  they 
do  not,  their  days  are  not  "long  on  the 
earth.'' 

E.  T.  Seton  says :  "A  hen  sets  out  with 
her  chicks  a-foraging;  one  loiters,  does  not 
hasten  up  at  her  cluck-cluck  of  invitation 
and  command ;  consequently  he  gets  lost 
and  dies.  Another  neglects  to  run  to  the 
spot  when  she  calls  in  the  established  way 
that  she  has  found  good  food.  He  is  not  so 
well  nourished  as  the  others ;  he  becomes  a 
weakling  and  in  the  first  hard  pinch  he  is 
the  one  that  fails — he  dies.  Again  she  may 
call  out  hawk!  and  run  for  shelter;  the 
obedient  ones  run  with  her,  and  are  safe; 
the  disobedient  loiter — and  die.  They  pay 
the  penalty,  their  days  are  short  in  the  land." 

F.  J.  Thompson,  Superintendent  of  Cin- 
cinnati Zoo,  tells  of  a  black  bear  in  the 
garden  that  produced  a  family  of  two  cubs 
in  January,  1879.  When  they  were  seventy- 
one  days  old,  one  of  them  left  the  den  for 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  103 

the  first  time,  and  followed  the  mother  in 
her  quest  for  food.  This,  in  a  wild  state, 
would  have  been  a  fatal  mistake  for  the 
young  one,  *'As  soon  as  the  mother  found  it 
out,  he  writes,  '^she  immedately  drove  it 
gently  back;  and,  on  the  second  attempt 
she  cuffed  It  soundly,  which  put  a  stop  to  its 
wandermg  propensity." 

In  1878  two  of  my  cousins  in  company 
with     two     fellow-workmen   on    their   way 
home  from  the  'Tine  Swamp,"  leading  over 
the  Pocono  Mountam,  overtook  three  such 
disobedient   cubs   and    captured   them    and 
carried    them    home    to    the    little    village 
of  Appenzell,  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain. 
Several  times  I  have  overtaken  a  pheasant 
in     the    woods,    with    a     brood    of    young 
ones.      Quick    as    a    flash,    the    little    ones 
vanished   out   of   s'ght.      They   obeyed   the 
mother  who  told  them  to  hide  under  the 
leaves,  and  their  lives  were  spared  to  her. 
This  law  of  obedience  is  vital.    Its  violation 
means  death  to  the  individual,  and  if  per- 
sisted in,  death  to  the  race. 

The  principle  of  the  fifth  commandment  is 
the  ^  preservation  of  the  species,  and  is 
against  its  destruction.  And  likewise  we 
find  that  there  is  a  deep-rooted  instinct 
against  murder,  in  this  sense,  in  most  of  the 
anmals.  They  recognize  their  own  kind 
and  instinct  tells  them:  "Thou  shalt  not 
kill"  them. 


104  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

Reared  at  the  foot  of  the  Pocono  Moun- 
tain, where  rattle  snakes  were  more 
numerous  than  we  preferred,  I  saw  their 
new-born  babies  strike  quickly  at  any  other 
species  that  came  near,  but  never  at  their 
own.  Minks,  like  kittens,  are  born  blind. 
My  uncle  told  me  that  on  one  occasion  he 
found  several  of  these  young  ones  in  their 
snug  home,  took  them  with  him  and  allowed 
them  to  be  suckled  by  a  mother  cat.  When 
well  fed  he  said  that  they  instantly  tried  to 
take  her  life.  Though  creatures  so  blood- 
thirsty, they  never  would  have  attacked 
their  own  mother.  Animals  not  unfre- 
quently  fight,  usually  on  account  of  mates, 
but  in  nearly  all  cases  the  fight  has  ended 
when  one  yields.  Many  times  you  have 
seen  a  dog  groveling  on  the  ground  to 
disarm  his  superior  in  the  fray.  When  two 
cats  fight,  the  conquerer  is  satisfied  when 
his  antagonist  runs  away ;  he  will  not  follow 
him  a  hundred  feet.  Buit  had  the  fight  been 
between  dog  and  cat,  or  between  cat  and 
rat,  the  victor  would  have  followed  with 
avowed  intent  to  kill. 

What  makes  the  diflference?  All  will 
admit  that  the  conclusion  was  not  arrived 
at  by  reason.  You  say  it  was  instinct.  You 
might  say  truthfully  that  it  is  because  of 
an  unconscious  recognition  of  an  unwritten 
law  or  principle  against  killing  one's  own 
kind. 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  105 

There  are  exceptions  to  this  rule,  but  so 
there  are  exceptions  among  men.  There 
are  cannibals  among  the  most  uncivilized 
of  men ;  and  some  higher  ones  that  have 
been  demoralized  by  captivity.  But  to  the 
highest  instinct  cannibalism  is  repellent. 
The  records  tell  us  that  it  was  actual  starva- 
tion that  finally  induced  Nansen's  dogs  to 
eat  the  flesh  of  their  comrades,  even  though 
it  was  offered  to  them  in  a  disguised  form. 
Experience  has  often  told  trappers  that  it  is 
useless  to  bate  a  trap  for  the  higher  animals 
by  using  the  flesh  of  their  own  species.  And 
this  law,  the  preservation  of  their  kind,  is 
so  fully  established,  says  Thompson-Seton, 
that  ''not  only  will  they  abstain  from  killing 
their  own  kind,  but  they  will  actually  rally 
to  save  one  whose  life  is  in  jeopardy." 

We  turn  now  to  the  sixth  commandment, 
or  the  fundamental  of  purity.  Sometimes  it 
is  said  that  all  the  noted  characters  of  the 
Old  Testament  were  polygamists.  This, 
however,  is  a  statement  made  by  those  who 
are  too  ignorant  to  understand,  or  too  indo- 
lent to  read.  Read  the  roll  of  monogamous 
honor.  From  Adam  to  Noah  but  one  case 
of  polygamy,  and  that  case  issued  in  murder. 
Adam  and  all  the  antediluvian  patriarchs, 
Abraham  and  Isaac,  Joseph  and  Moses, 
Aaron  and  Joshua,  all  the  prophets  and  all 
the  apostles,  were  advocates  and  supporters 
of  monogamy  and  forbade  the  intermarriage 


106  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

of  near  relatives.  Here  again  nature  is  a 
great  teacher,  older  than  revelation.  Even 
nature  says  with  Paul,  ''Let  every  man  have 
his  own  wife."  The  equality  in  the  numeri- 
cal proportion  of  the  sexes  speaks  loudly.  I 
have  before  me  statistics  showing  male  and 
female  population  in  the  decades  from  1850 
to  the  present  time.  Its  findings  are 
remarkable,  though  they  would  require  too 
much  space  to  be  given  here  in  detail.  The 
following  fact,  however,  is  so  striking  that 
I  must  not  omit  it.  In  i860  there  was  in 
this  country  an  excess  of  727,087  males,  and 
in  England  an  excess  of  700,000  females,  so 
that  in  these  two  great  countries  there  was 
almost  an  equilibrium  of  the  sexes 
numerically. 

But  what  say  the  animals?  The  evil 
called  "inbreeding"  or  the  mat'ng  of  near 
kin  is  so  well  established,  and  so  well  known 
to  anyone  who  has  spent  some  time  on  the 
farm,  that  I  will  not  dwell  upon  it  here. 
But  as  regards  polygamy  and  monogamy 
"let  there  be  light."  In  his  "Antelope  and 
Deer  of  America,"  Mr.  Caton  observes  the 
following:  Referring  to  Sulton,  a  distin- 
guished character  among  the  Wapiti  Deer 
tribe,  he  says:  "At  first  his  progeny  were 
reasonably  numerous,  but  during  the  last 
few  years  of  his  life  they  gradually  dimin- 
ished from  a  dozen  to  a  single  fawn  in  1875, 
though    with    about    twenty-five    females, 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  107 

more  than  half  of  which  had  previously 
produced  fawns."  He  was  replaced  by  a 
younger  male  and  "the  result  was  that  I 
had  twelve  fawns  the  next  season,  including 
one  pair  of  twins." 

The  Wapiti,  the  most  polygamous  of  the 
deer  in  America,  are  the  first  to  disappear, 
while  "the  survival  of  the  fittest"  belongs  to 
the  common  white-tailed,  the  least  poly- 
gamous. ''One  of  the  common  difficulties 
besetting  the  growing  of  blue  foxes  for  their 
fur,  on  the  islands  of  the  Bering  Sea,  is  what 
has  been  called  the  obstinate  and  deplorable 
monogamy  of  those  animals.  The  breeders 
are  working  hard  to  break  down  this  high 
moral  sentiment  and  produce  a  blue  fox 
that  does  not  object  to  polygamy." 

The  wild  goose  is  a  most  exemplary  bird. 
The  tame  goose,  like  the  dog,  has  been 
spoiled.  There  is,  however,  one  domestic 
bird  that  maintains  its  honorable  wild  tradi- 
tion in  spite  of  all  that  sinful  man  can  do; 
this  is  the  pigeon.  "The  breeder  knows 
that  the  young  in  a  given  nest  are  unques- 
tionably the  offspring  of  their  alleged 
parents."    (E.  T.  S.) 

It  is  not  surprising  then  that  Gadow,  the 
distinguished  ornithologist,  should  call  the 
pigeons  the  birds  of  the  future.  By  this  he 
means  to  say  that  when  all  other  species 
have  paid  the  penalty  of  polygamy,  the 
pigeons  will  possess  the  earth  because  they 


108  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

obey  the  command,  ''Thou  shalt  not  commit 
adultery." 

Seton  says  that  the  most  successful  wild 
quadrupeds  in  America  today  are  the  gray 
wolves.  They  are  strict  monogamists  and 
they  defy  all  attempts  to  exterminate  them. 
True,  nearly  every  kind  of  abominable  vice 
known  among  men  and  forbidden  by  the 
Mosaic  law,  has  been  noted  among  animals. 
These  are  the  exceptions,  not  the  rule  among 
wild  animals.  Those  who  have  lived  among 
"the  birds  and  the  beasts"  agree  that  most 
wild  animals  instinctively  obey  the  Mosaic 
law  and  are  rewarded ;  and  that  where  the 
marriage  of  near  kin  is  avoided  and  mono- 
gamy practiced,  there  will  result  the 
survival  of  the  fittest. 

Lazarus  was  no  more  virtuous  than 
Abraham.  The  sin  of  violating  the  seventh 
commandment  consists  in  "bringing  into  our 
possession  by  unfair  dealings  and  fraudulent 
means"  that  which  belongs  to  our  neighbor. 

Seton  says  the  animal  law  is  this :  "The 
producer  owns  the  product ;  unproduced 
property  belongs  to  the  first  who  discovers 
and  possesses  it."  I  believe  this  would  hold 
among  men  in  a  court  of  justice  and  in  a 
school  of  theology. 

Property  among  animals  consists  of  food, 
home,  wives,  and  playground.  Ownership 
is  indicated  in  two  ways ;  one  by  actual  pos- 
session, the  other  by  visible  marks  or  smell 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  109 

marks.     Seton  says  that  many  animals,  as 
rabbit  and  bears,  rub  their  bodies  against 
trees   in   their  range,  to  let  other  animals 
know   that  this   place   is   already   occupied. 
Some  creatures,  as  the  weasels,  have  glands 
that  secrete  an  odor  which  they  use  for  an 
ownership  mark.    The  odor  varies  with  each 
mdividual  and  thus  answers  admirably.     I 
have  seen  wolves,  foxes  and  dogs,  marking 
their  property  in  this  way.    I  have  also  seen 
foxes   and   wolves   store   away   food  in   the 
earth;  after  it  was  buried,  they  defiled  the 
place  in  a  characteristic  way,  thereby  putting 
their  mark.    It  is  proverbial  that  it  is  unwise 
to  disturb  a  bone  buried  bv  a  dog.    It  is  his 
property  and  he  intends  to  protect  it.     You 
have   no   doubt   observed   at   some   time   a 
small    dog   guarding  its   property   success- 
fully   against    a    large    Newfoundland    in- 
truder, only  on  the  grounds  that  the  large 
dog  instinctively  yields  to  the  moral   law, 
"right  of  possession."     The  little   dog  felt 
himself  to  be  in  the  right,  the  big  dog  that 
he  was  in  the  wrong. 

On  the  Pocono  Mountain  in  Eastern 
Pennsylvania,  I  have  seen  the  bear's  mark- 
ings, where  he  tore  the  bark  of  trees  with 
claw  or  teeth.  This  is  the  mark  for  the  other 
bear  who  sees  it  from  afar.  In  the  summer 
of  1906,  a  college  mate  and  I  drove  to  the 
top  of  this  same  mountain  for  a  day's  out- 
ing.    Our  wives  were  with  us  to  enjoy  the 


110  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

day.  For  the  comfort  of  the  horse,  and  to 
get  nearer  to  nature's  heart,  my  friend  and 
I  walked  up  the  mountain.  As  we  walked, 
I  enlarged  on  the  idea  I  had  often  heard  of, 
but  had  never  seen  exemplified ;  viz..,  that  a 
horse  very  much  feared  a  bear  and  by  scent 
recognized  the  boundaries  of  his  marked-off 
territory. 

It  was  a  delightful  day  on  the  mountain. 
On  our  return,  about  half  way  down  the 
mountain,  the  horse  raised  his  head  and  ears 
in  a  manner  denoting  something  unusual. 
The  men  sat  in  front.  We  were  both  silent 
for  a  minute  as  if  overtaken  by  a  spell,  all 
the  while  half  expecting  a  bear,  when  sud- 
denly about  a  hundred  yards  in  front  of  us 
we  saw  Bruin  cross  the  road.  It  required 
some  urging  to  have  the  horse  venture  on 
forbidden  ground. 

Dr.  F.  W.  True,  writing  of  the  blue  foxes 
on  the  islands  of  the  Bering  Sea,  says  that 
they  will  follow  a  man,  in  the  hope  of  being 
fed,  "to  the  boundary  of  his  domain ;  for 
each  fox,  like  his  ne'ghbor,  the  bull  seal, 
seems  to  have  a  definite  territory  which  he 
regards  as  his  own,  and  upon  which  he 
resents  intrusion."  Animals  recognize  their 
own  food,  home,  territory  and  wives,  and 
they  will  defend  them.  ''Any  cock  will  fight 
on  his  own  dung-hill."  *'He  is  a  poor  thing 
that  won't  fight  for  his  own."  These 
familiar   sayings   illustrate  this   law.     The 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  111 

law  of  ownership  is  recognized  by  possessor 
and  non-possessor,  and  those  who  depend 
on  stealing  will  suffer  the  penalty,  if  not  in 
the  individual,  then  in  their  species. 

The  eighth  commandment  says:  "Thou 
shalt  not  bear  false  witness,  etc."  Exod. 
20:16.  ''Thou  shalt  not  ra'se  a  false  report." 
Exod.  23:1.  Untruthfulness  is  an  abomina- 
tion unto  the  Lord.  It  is  even  so  to  ani- 
mals. Note  the  significant  illustration  in 
the  following  poem,  which  is  also  verified 
by  other  noted  naturalists  than  the  author 
of  the  verse,  which  was  written  by  E.  L. 
Hickey,  and  appeared  in  "Leisure  Hour," 
volume  1892-3 : 

"It  was  many  and  many  a  league  away 
from  the  place  where  now  we  are, 

And  many  a  year  ago  it  happ'ed  in  the  land 
of  the  great  White  Czar. 

It  was  morn — I  remember  how  cold  it  felt 
— out  under  a  low  pale  sky, 
When   we   moored   our   boat   on   the   river 
bank,   my    companion    Leigh   and    I. 

"And  the  plunge  in  the  water  unwarmed  of 

the  sun  was  less  for  desire  than  pluck ; 
And  we  hurried  on  our  clothes  again  and 

longed  for  our  breakfast  luck ; 
When  all  of  a  sudden  he  clutched  my  arm 

and  pointed  across,  and  there 
We  stood  up  side  by  side  and  watched,  and 

as  mute  as  the  dead  we  were. 


112  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

"We  saw  the  gray-wolf's  fatal  spring, 
And  we  saw  the  death  of  the  deer; 
And  the  gray-wolf  left  the  body  alone, 
And  swift  as  the  feet  of  fear 
His  feet  sped  over  the  brow  of  the  hill. 
And  we  lost  the  sight  of  him 
Who  had  left  the  dead  deer  there  on  the 
ground  uneaten,  body  or  limb. 

"So    when    he    vanished    out   of   our    sight 

we  rowed  our  boat  across. 
And  lifted  the  carcass  and  rowed  again  to 

the  other  side. 
The  loss  for  you,  good  Master  Wolf,  much 

more  than  the  gain  for  us  will  be. 
'Twere  half  a  pity  to  spoil  your  sport,  except 

that  we  fain  would  see 
The  reason  why  with  hunger  unstanched, 

you  have  left  your  quarry  behind; 
Red-toothed,    red    mawed,    foregone    your 

meal;    Sir    Wolf,   we'll   know   your 

mind. 

"Hungry  and  cold  we  waited  and  watched, 
to  see  him  return  on  his  track ; 

At  last  we  spied  him  atop  of  the  hill,  the 
same  gray-wolf  come  back ; 

No  longer  alone,  but  a  leader  of  wolves, 
the  head  of  a  gruesome  pack. 

"He  went  right  up  to  the  very  place  where 
the  dead  deer's  body  had  lain. 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  113 

And  he  sniffed  and  looked  for  the  prey  of 

his  claws,  the  beast  that  himself  had 

slain; 
The  deer  at  our  feet  and  the  river  between 

and  the  searching  all  in  vain. 
He  threw  up  his  muzzle  and  slunk  his  tail 

and  whined  so  pitifully, 
And   the   whole   pack   howled   and   fell   on 

him — we  hardly  could  bear  to  see. 
Breaker  of  civic  law,  or  pact,  or  whatever 

they  deemed  of  him. 
He  knew  his  fate,  and  he  met  his  fate,  for 

they  tore  him  limb  from  limb. 

"I  tell  you  we  felt  as  we  ne'er  have  felt 
since  ever  our  days  began — 

Less  like  men  that  had  cozened  a  brute  than 
like  men  that  had  murdered  a  man." 

To  covet  is  to  desire  the  "forbidden  fruit." 
Covetousness  is  an  eager  and  intense  desire 
for  that  which  is  not  lawful  for  a  man  to 
have.  This  was  the  sin  of  Achan:  "When  I 
saw  among  the  spoils  a  goodly  Babylonish 
garment,  and  two  hundred  shekels  of  silver 
and  a  wedge  of  gold  of  fifty  shekels,  then  I 
coveted  them."  A  man  may  desire  a  house, 
but  not  the  one  that  belongs  to  another, 
without  paying  for  it ;  a  man  may  desire  a 
wife,  but  not  another's ;  he  may  desire  a 
horse  or  a  trusty  servant,  but  not  to  the  dis- 
advantage of  another :  an  ox,  an  ass,  a  field, 


114  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

but  not  to  the  injury  of  its  owner.  You 
should  not  be  surprised  to  find  that  the  ani- 
mals resent  the  idea  that  another  should 
covet  and  take  possession  of  the  home  they 
have  built. 

Under  the  eaves  of  my  father's  barn  a 
colony  of  swallows  had  been  established, 
dating  back  longer  than  I  can  remember. 
They  went  to  the  warmer  country  in  the 
autumn  and  returned  in  early  spring,  t 
would  think  it  was  in  the  spring  of  1876, 
"Centennial  Year,"  that  a  pair  of  blue-birds 
fixed  their  covetous  eyes  upon  one  of  the 
nests  and  took  possession  of  it.  First  the 
owners  tried  to  eject  the  invaders;  then  the 
whole  colony  of  swallows  joined  in  the  at- 
tempt, but  without  success.  The  blue-bird 
inside  was  fortified  behind  a  hard  mud  wall 
and  would  neither  yield  to  force  nor  to  the 
moral  right  of  ownership.  Apparently  the 
swallows  abandoned  the  attempt.  (But  pre- 
ceding the  storm  there  is  also  a  calm.)  Be- 
hold !  they  all  came  in  a  body,  each  with  a 
pellet  of  mud,  and  walled  up  the  entrance 
to  the  nest.  The  blue-bird  in  possession 
starved  to  death,  and  my  brother  and  I 
found  it  there  some  days  later. 

This  fact  is  verified  by  H.  Dallas  through 
E.  T.  Seton  in  a  similar  account.  This 
comes  very  near  being  parallel  to  the  fate  of 
Achan  whom  all  Israel  stoned  to  death  with 
stones.    In  both  cases  death  was  the  penalty 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  115 

Of  covetousness.     Naturalists     who  are  at 
home  with  ''the  beasts  and  the  birds"  could 
multiply   these    illustrations    manifold;   but 
I  believe  these  will  suffice  to  illustrate  the 
premise.    Deep  down  in  their  inmost  life  in 
some    way    God    has    written    fundamental 
laws,  if  not  on  ''the  tablets  of  their  hearts," 
at  least  in  the  very  fabric  of  their  being; 
and,  as  among  men,  the  rule  is  that  they 
assent,  while  the  penalty  of  transgression  is 
death.     If  this  does  not  appear  directly,  it 
is  yet  "visiting  the  iniquity  of  the  fathers 
upon  the  children  unto  the  third  and  fourth 
generation,"     and     showing     mercy     unto 
thousands    that    obey    his    commandments. 


116  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 


CHAPTER  VI. 
Psalms  in  Nature. 

Above  the  couch  of  David,  according  to 
tradition,  there  hung  a  harp.  The  midnight 
breeze,  as  it  rippled  over  the  strings,  made 
such  music  that  the  poet-king  was  con- 
strained to  rise  from  his  bed ;  and,  till  rosy- 
fingered  aurora  was  seen  in  the  eastern  sky, 
he  wedded  words  to  the  music.  Whether 
this  tradition  be  true  or  not,  it  reminds  us 
of  our  kinship  to  Nature's  Book,  differen- 
tiating for  us  the  clear  notes  of  the  Psalms 
of  Life. 

The  composer  writes  music  by  combining 
sounds  of  different  pitch — it  may  be  a  lulla- 
by, a  march,  a  waltz,  or  an  oratorio.  In  a 
single  composition  a  musician  can  combine 
every  sentiment  of  which  the  human  being 
is  capable,  from  the  grave  to  the  gay,  or 
from  the  despairing  to  the  triumphant. 
Music  is  thus  largely  descriptive.  Composi- 
tion that  consecutively  describes  such  con- 
flicting emotional  conditions,  must  neces- 
sarily be  complex.  Aside  from  this,  these 
rapid  changes  would  be  nothing  but  discord ; 
but  our  musician,  by  rapid  modulations,  can 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  117 

change,  without  jar  upon  your  ear,  a  minor 
into  a  major,  or  a  major  into  a  minor,  and 
in  a  twinkling-  convert  a  w^ail  of  despair  into 
a  poem  of  hope !  The  musician  in  truth  can 
combine  and  can  correlate  and  bring  into 
mutual  relations,  things  most  dissimilar, 
unrelated,  and  seemingly  opposed — harmony 
out  of  apparent  chaos.  The  musician  in  a 
sense  can  make  a  carol  out  of  the  universe, 
and  correlate  not  only  the  things  of  earth, 
but  bind  planet  to  star  and  star  to 
constellation. 

Through  the  use  of  common  chords,  the 
musician,  by  bringing  into  mutual  relation- 
ship things  unrelated,  separate  and  apart 
from  each  other,  unifies  in  a  manner  all  the 
things  of  his  kingdom,  and  thus  he  is  a 
prince  among  the  synthesists.  To  do  th's 
requires  oftentimes  that  which  is  known 
as  close  harmony;  but  to  the  refined  musical 
ear,  *'the  closer  the  harmony,  the  more 
exquisite  the  delight." 

A  child  with  his  forefinger  can  pick  out 
note  by  note,  in  a  limited  way,  a  simple 
melodious  exercise.  The  musician  by  the 
practical  combination  of  chords,  with  both 
hands  and  by  the  use  of  many  octaves  in 
his  instrument,  can  elaborate  his  harmony 
and  make  tones  and  progressions  unthought 
of  by  the  child.  The  history  of  harmony  is 
the  history  of  ever-increasing  richness  of 
combinations  of  common  chords.    This  was 


118  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

not  done  in  a  day.    It  required  centuries  of 
labor  and  thought. 

There  are  in    music,    as    in    other    arte, 
infinite     possibiHties     of     arrangement     of 
harmonious  material,  and  infinite  combina- 
tions of  these  related  parts — all  of  which  are 
pleasing.       Thus    there   can   be   no   end   to 
harmony  in  composition.    The  best  harmony 
no  doubt  is  found  in  the  large  orchestra, 
where  there  are  scores  of  instruments,  all 
of  which  have  differing    sounds,    differing 
notes,  and  differing  chords.     Yet    all    this 
variety  when  in  accord  and  harmony  won- 
derfully enrich  the  melody.     But  we  must 
not   forget   that   all   modulations   require   a 
return  to  the  keynote  before  the  end  of  the 
musical  composition  (this  is  true  in  Nature 
and  in  Grace),    but    in    the    meantime  the 
player  may  have  brought  into  harmonious 
use     every    note    of    his   instrument.      To 
compose  harmony  among  the  present  war- 
ring   nations    and    among    individuals,    the 
kings  and  priests  are  no  less  restricted  than 
the  musicians;  for  to  compose  harmonies  in 
the  moral  world  the  author  joins,  correlates, 
combines  and  brings  into  mutual  relation- 
ship those  who  were  apart  and  seemingly 
unrelated.     The  keynote  of  a  neighbor  may 
be  very  foreign  to  his  own.     But,  happily, 
there     are     such     things     as     modulations, 
progressions,  and  gradations.     To  compass 
the  end  may  require  close  harmony,  yet  it  is 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  119 

harmony,   perhaps   all   the   more   beautiful. 

In  the  harmonious  material  that  lies  be- 
tween yourself  and  the  world,  and  between 
God  and  the  world,  there  is  infinite 
arrangement  and  re-arrangement.  In  the 
moral  world,  also,  there  can  thus  be  no  end 
to  harmonious  composition.  God's  thought 
for  the  world  is  that  it  may  be  a  mighty 
orchestra,  antiphonal  to  the  orchestra  of 
Heaven — "Blessed    are    the     peacemakers." 

The  coming  of  Christ  means  peace  and 
harmony  and  oneness  in  the  world.  I  in 
you,  you  in  me,  and  God  for  us  all  and  in 
us  all !  In  this  composition  no  man  can  live 
to  himself  or  die  by  himself.  No  matter  how 
far  away  and  though  lost  he  may  be,  you 
can  reach  Him — by  modulations. 

We  all  need  to  get  a  finer  sense  of  quality. 
The  quality  of  the  violin,  cornet  and  trom- 
bone— they  all  dififer  widely ;  but  instead  of 
making  orchestral  discords,  they  wonder- 
fully enrich  the  melody. 

Pythagoras  said  that  the  seven  planets 
were  the  seven  notes  of  the  octave,  and  that 
all  the  heavenly  bodies  were  a  part  of  an 
universal  orchestra ;  not  one,  thought  he, 
''but  that  in  its  motion  like  an  angel  song." 

In  the  highest  sense  I  do  not  doubt  the 
truth  of  this,  nor  do  I  doubt  the  universal 
brotherhood  to  be — just  as  soon  as  the 
nations  and  the  individuals  at  war  correlate 
themselves,  the  one  with  the  other  and  with 


120  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

the  angels  and  with  God !  This  can  be  done 
through  Jesus  Christ.  He  is  the  keynote  of 
the  un  verse.  In  Him  alone  can  all  things 
be  one: — one  in  harmony  and  peace,  and  one 
in  eternal  purpose.  This  is  the  Psalm  of 
Life. 

Many  treatises  have  been  written  on  the 
Beauties  of  Nature,  and  still  we  inquire, 
what  is  the  true  interpretat'on  of  the 
Beautiful  in  Nature?  Darwin  has  told  us 
that  the  gaudy  colored  petal  has  a  utilitarian 
motive.  Its  intent  is  to  lure  the  insect, 
which,  in  gathering  its  honey,  will  at  the 
same  time  serve  as  slave  to  carry  pollen 
from  plant  to  plant,  and  thus  help  to 
perpetuate  the  species. 

Then  follows  another  who  says  that 
"there  is  an  order  in  the  color  scheme 
independent  of  its  use  in  life — an  order 
which  is  definite  and  predetermined  'n  the 
very  constitution  of  matter"  (nature), 
which  means  essentially  that  the  beauty 
dates  back  to  its  origin. 

Now  this  beauty,  according  to  *ts  kind, 
we  see  everywhere  in  nature.  We  see  it  in 
the  fauna  and  in  the  flora.  We  see  it 
through  the  microscope,  the  telescope,  and 
the  spectroscope.  We  see  it  wherever  we 
open  our  eyes  to  look.  We  see  it  'n  the 
starry  night  and  in  the  glare  of  the  noon-day 
sun.  And  of  all  this  beauty,  as  regards 
order,  symmetry,  harmony,  adaptation,  "Day 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  121 

unto  day  uttereth  speech,  and  night  unto 
night  showeth  knowledge,"  and  in  the 
language  of  this  order  and  adaptation  is 
gone  out  ''through  all  the  earth  and  their 
words  to  the  end  of  the  world." 

Many  times,  no  doubt,  have  most  of  us, 
when  alone  in  the  garden,  the  field,  or  the 
wood,  meditated  on  that  strange  kinship 
between  us  and  the  outer  w^orld.  The  art  in 
nature  suggests  to  us  thoughts  which  are 
not  foreign  to  our  experiences  in  life — 
thoughts  of  joy  and  gladness,  pleasure  or 
pain— thoughts  which  are  all  real  to  us,  and 
hence  they  must  be  real  in  themselves.  And 
if  they  are  real  to  us  who  are  not  artists, 
how  intensely  must  they  be  "lived  over"  in 
the  heart  and  mind  of  the  true  poet!  And 
when  we  penetrate  the  deeper  meaning  of 
this  kinship  between  nature  and  the  individ- 
ual mind  and  the  mind  of  the  whole  human 
race,  how  nature  is  fitted  to  mind  and  mind 
fitted  to  nature ;  if  we  vividly  feel  the  reality 
of  this  adaptation,  we  first  pause  and  wonder 
at  self,  and  then  at  that  which  is  outside  of 
self.  We  pause  and  wonder,  and  are  seized 
with  a  conviction  deeper  than  the  findings 
of  a  syllogistic  argument.  We  do  not  ask  at 
this  point  for  major  and  minor  premise. 
But,  with  a  conviction  deeper  still,  we 
answer:  ''One  thing  I  know,  that  whereas  I 
was  blind,  now  I  see."  The  fact  of  these 
two  entities,   so  answering  the  one  to  the 


122  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

Other — such  beauty  and  order  without 
answering  to  beauty  and  order  within — 
strangely  holding  communion,  is  all  from 
reason  for  reason.  It  is  the  revelation  of 
reason  to  reason.  "One  thing  I  know,"  and 
I  may  know  it  as  truly  as  the  poet  or  the 
painter  knows  it,  that  this  kinship  in  self 
and  nature  is  rooted  and  must  be  rooted  in 
the  one  central  and  universal  intellect,  from 
whence  emanated  the  Divine  idea  which  is 
revealed  to  us  alike  in  the  Psalms  of  David 
and  the  Book  of  Nature. 

On  the  occasion  of  something  absurd  or 
unusual,  we  have  heard  men  of  more  than 
ordinary  intelligence  dismiss  it  by  saying : 
"Oh,  that  is  poetry !"  And  there  are  a  good- 
ly number  of  sensible  people  who  share  this 
view — people  to  whom  poetry  is  only  an- 
other name  for  what  is  fantastic  and  untrue. 
If  poetry  is  not  true,  if  it  has  no  real 
foundation  in  the  very  nature  of  things,  if 
genuine  poetry  is  not  as  true  a  form  of 
thinking  as  any  other,  and  is  not,  indeed, 
one  of  the  highest  forms  of  human  thought, 
then  the  sooner  we  abandon  it,  the  better. 
But  I  believe,  as  Wordsworth  says,  that  it 
is  "the  breath  and  finer  spirit  of  all  knowl- 
edge;" "immortal  as  the  heart  of  man." 

Now  the  raw  material  is  essentially  the 
same  for  the  man  of  science  and  the  man  of 
art.  The  analytic  structure,  however,  the 
poet  leaves  to  physics  and  metaphysics  to 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  123 

settle  between  themselves.  But,  besides  the 
various  aspects  of  nature  which  physical 
science  explains  in  subduing  apparent  con- 
fusion into  unity,  law,  and  order — over  and 
above  those  laws,  there  are  other  sides  or 
aspects  of  Nature  which  come  to  us  through 
other  than  scientific  avenues  and  bring 
home  to  us  new  and  sublimer  truths  and 
raise  us  to  nobler  contemplations.  When 
the  harp-strings  over  David's  couch  caused 
him  to  "sing  and  make  melody  in  his  heart 
unto  the  Lord,"  the  emotions  evoked  were 
as  true  and  as  rational  as  the  law  of  gravi- 
tation or  the  law  of  the  atomic  theory.  The 
soul  witnesses  to  beauty  as  truly  as  the  eye 
to  light.  Jacobi  calls  it  ''the  spiritual  eye 
for  spiritual  objects." 

Such  realities  are  there  in  the  world  of 
art — such  real  ideas  and  ideals  that  they 
served  as  the  guiding  stars  to  lead  the 
heathen  poets  of  Greece  in  their  admiration 
and  adoration  of  the  beautiful  to  the  very 
borders  of  the  land  of  promise.  I  do  not 
forget  the  danger  emphasizing  art  to  such  a 
degree  (as  in  the  case  of  the  Greeks  also) 
that  religion  and  art  become  synonymous 
terms.  I  do  not  forget  that  Plato  saw  the 
danger  in  the  witchery  of  form  and  color  and 
music.  But  I  am  just  as  truly  aware  that, 
in  spite  of  this  danger,  it  was  their  intense 
admiration  of  the  beautiful  that  lifted  the 


124  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

Greeks  to  a  higher  plane  of  think'ng  than 
all  the  rest  of  the  heathen  world. 

The  Greek  had  strong  human  feelings 
and  sympathies.  He  projected  himself  on 
nature — humanized  the  clouds,  forests, 
rivers  and  seas.  With  the  Greek  it  was  not 
merely  power,  but  human  power;  not  only 
beauty,  but  human  beauty;  not  only  life, 
but  human  life  which  was  the  subject  of  his 
profound  veneration.  In  h:s  conception  of 
God,  his  effort  was  to  realize  a  human 
being  who  was  altogether  lovely.  True, 
they  erected  in  Athens  an  altar  to  the 
Unknown  God;  but  when  that  God  should 
be  revealed,  their  fond  hope  was  that  it 
should  be  the  Divine  under  human  limita- 
tions. They  looked  for  humanity  in  its 
glory — they  asked  for  the  Son  of  Man.  Here, 
then,  it  is  apparent  that  the  Book  of  Nature 
in  its  poetic  form  led  those  heathen  (as  it 
were  almost  a  Divine  inspiraton)  to  the 
very  gate  called  Beautiful ;  and  had  they,  as 
the  wise  men  of  the  east,  consulted  the 
prophets,  they  might  have  entered  the 
Temple  of  God. 

There  is  another  truth  in  the  Book  of 
Grace  that  receives  wonderful  confirmation 
and  verification  from  the  Beauties  of 
Nature.  I  refer  to  the  fact  of  spirit.  Apart 
from  the  plain  Word  itself,  there  is  no 
source  from  which  we  rece've  such  over- 
whelming evidence   as   here.     Shakespeare 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  1.25 

makes  Hamlet  say :  "There  are  more  things 
in    heaven  and   earth,    Horatio,    than    are 
dreamed  of  in  your  philosophy."     Not  that 
I   would  charge  it  against    the    author    of 
Evolution   (for  I   do  not  hold  him  respon- 
sible), yet  it  is  a  fact  that,  since  his    day, 
there  has  been  a  decided  materialistic  ten- 
dency in   science— a  tendency  to  deny  the 
existence  of  anything  but  that  which  we  can 
see,  hear,  taste,  touch  and  smell.     To  such 
a  degree  has  this  skepticism    been    carred 
that  its   advocates,   who   decried   dogma  in 
religion,  became  the  worst  of  dogmaticists. 
''Now   the   natural    man   receiveth    not   the 
things  of  the   Spirit  of  God;  for  they  are 
foolishness  unto  him;  neither  can  he  know 
them    for   they    are    spiritually    discerned." 
It  is  clearly  a  law  in  nature  that,  when  a 
man   is   totally   absorbed   in   that  which   is 
material,  he  loses  all  hold  upon  the  spiritual, 
and  becomes  like  the  Queen  of  Sheba,  who 
so    riveted    her   thoughts    on    the    material 
splendors     of     King    Solomon's  home  that 
when  she  had  seen  "the  meat  of  his  table 
and   the   sitting    of   his   servants    and    the 
attendance  of  his  ministers  and  their  apparel 
and  his  cupbearers  and  his  ascent  by  which 
he   went  up  unto  the  house  of  the   Lord, 
there  was  no  more  spirit  in  her."    There  is 
in  nature  just  as  much  or  as  little  as  the  soul 
of  each  person  can  see  in  her.    And  in  order 
to  see  other  than  that  which  is  material,  the 


126  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

soul  must  be  trained  and  moved  in  the 
things  of  the  spirit.  If  anyone  is  so  exclu- 
sively the  man  of  science  that  he  never  gets 
beyond  analyzing,  comparing  and  reasoning 
on  the  phenomena  that  he  sees,  then  he  will 
look  without  emotion  on  the  grandest 
truths  of  nature.  Then  he  will  see  in  nature 
nothing  but  a  subject  for  investigation  and 
analysis ;  no  beauty,  no  art,  no  spirit. 

During  the  early  part  of  the  month  of 
June,  in  the  summer  of  1912,  in  company 
with  my  wife  and  three  friends,  I  toured  the 
State  of  Pennsylvania,  from  west  to  east,  in 
an  automobile.  The  weather  was  most 
deligJitful.  Not  only  was  it  in  the  month 
of  roses,  but  the  month  when  many  of  the 
wild  flowers  were  at  their  best.  Especially 
on  the  Allegheny  Mountains  the  shad-bush, 
hawthorn,  and  dogwood  were  still  in  bloom, 
and  the  laurel  and  the  rhododendron  had 
reached  the  zenith  of  their  glory.  But  the 
mountaintop  was  delightful  for  other 
reasons  also — it  gave  one  a  larger  outlook 
on  life.  As  we  ascended  the  mountain  from 
the  lowlands,  our  horizon  was  constantly 
enlarged.  From  the  summit  we  were 
delighted  to  look  out  upon  the  fertile  fields 
in  the  valleys  below,  as  far  as  the  eye  could 
reach.  What  thrill  of  joy  one  experiences 
on  the  uplands !  It  is  an  experience  we 
should  enjoy  many  times  both  literally  and 
metaphorically.    The  descent  of  the  eastern 


AKD  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  127 

Slope  brought  us  to  the  beautiful  village  of 
Bellefont  nestling  at  the  foot  of  the  moun- 
tain     Here,   in  conversation   with   a   fairly 
intellectual  gentleman  who  had  lived  there 
all  his  life,  I  dwelt  at  some  length  on  the 
fact  that  we  who  live  in  Pennsylvania  need 
not  go  to  the  far  west  for  mountain  scenery 
inasmuch     as    we    have    it    at    our    door- 
although,  I  added,  "there  are     many    who 
have  lived  in  this  state  all  their  lives  who 
never  knew  of  the  uplands."     (They  have 
spent   all   their   lives   in   the   lowlands   and 
quagmires— down  in  the  valley  of  despair.) 
To  my  surprise,    this    somewhat    well-read 
man,  who  had  lived  at  the  very  foot  of  the 
grandest  scenery  east  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, told    me    he    had    never   visited    the 
uplands— the  mountain  top.    Truly,  "where 
there    is    no    vision    the    people  'perish." 
Hemmed   in   on   sides   by  mountains,  their 
vision    IS    limited    to  small    things;    down 
in  the  lowlands  they  do  perish  for  want  of 
a  vision.    Their  motto  should  be  Excelsior; 
h'gher,  ever  higher,  until  they  reach  the  up- 
lands from  the  summit  of  which  they  may 
look  out  upon  the  grandeur  of  a  larger  hori- 
zon ;  where  the  poetry  of  nature  may  inspire 
them     with  a  brighter     view  of  life  and  a 
nobler  sphere  of  living. 

I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  there  are 
men  of  science  and  men  of  the  world  who 
so    fix     their     every     thought     on     dollars^ 


128  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

"house  and  land,  and  other  property,"  or 
limit  their  vision  to  the  four  walls  of  the 
laboratory,  thinking  of  vortex-rings,  atoms, 
and  of,  I  had  almost  said  molly-coddles  for 
molecules,  that  they  can  scarcely  expect 
anything  else,  according  to  the  teachings 
of  the  same  laws  they  so  fondly  desire  to 
emphasize,  than  that  soon  there  will  be  no 
more  spirit  in  them.  What  they  need  is  to 
get  out  of  the  haze  and  mist  of  the  labora- 
tory, out  of  the  damps  and  quagmires  of  the 
lowlands,  into  the  uplands  of  the  mountain, 
and  breathe  the  purer  atmosphere,  and  see 
with  clearer  vision  a  broader  horizon,  where 
they  will  be  seized  with  a  conviction  that 
there  is  an  idea  in  every  leaf,  and  song  of 
bird,  and  babbling  brook,  and  setting  sun. 
Their  spirit  will  revive  and  they  will  live. 
They  need  to  pray:  "Lead  me  to  the  rock 
that  is  higher  than  I." 

Inasmuch  as  the  outer  worlds  are  so  con- 
structed that  they  answer  to  the  inner,  so 
that  when  mere  qualities  (not  material) 
such  as  length  and  breadth,  solitude  and 
gloom,  sunshine  and  shadow,  affect  the  soul 
in  certain  well  known  ways  and  awaken  in 
us  emot'ons  of  peace  and  joy,  of  sadness  or 
solemnity,  we  naturally  ask  ourselves  the 
question,  "What  is  there  of  kinship  in  the 
outer  world  that  awakened  these  emotions?" 
It  is  an  inevitable  question  from  anyone  who 
has  been  thus  moved.     He  realizes  that  this 


AXD  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  129 

emotion  was  not  the  outgrowth  of  mere 
chance.  When  the  spirit  within  was  so 
moved,  by  an  entity  intensely  real,  though 
it  came  through  something  material,  it  was 
more  than  physical ;  it  w^as  spiritual.  Like 
produced  like — spirit  agreed  with  our  spirit. 
Evidently  this  could  not  be  otherwise,  for 
it  carried  the  perceptive  faculty  quite  be- 
yond the  material  appearance  till  it  found 
self  in  communion  with  a  kinship  to  its  own 
spirit.  The  beauty  that  came  to  us  through 
the  senses,  we  felt  belonged  more  especially 
to  the  same  order  as  that  which  addresses 
the  moral  aspect  to  the  heart  and  conscience. 
It  must  have  been  the  Great  Spirit  behind 
the  veil.  It  is  the  only  way  to  account  for 
the  intense  love  which  ''these  sights  and 
these  sounds"  of  Nature  have  awakened  in 
the  purest  and  best  of  men ;  and  the  more  as 
they  advanced  in  age  and  calmness  of  soul. 
But  if  nature  is  to  foreshadow  something 
higher  than  itself,  man  must  come  to  it  w^ith 
the  thought  of  God  already  in  his  heart. 
Even  water  will  not  rise  higher  than  its 
source.  And  the  water  of  life  which  alone 
satisfies,  comes  from  the  reservoirs  on  the 
hills  of  God.  So  a  man  must  not  expect  to 
get  a  religion  out  of  the  mere  sight  of  na- 
ture, either  from  its  manifold  design  or  from 
the  beauty  it  manifests  as  telling  of  char- 
acter. If  it  shall  be  for  him  an  element  of 
reconciliation  and  helpfulness  in  so    many 


130  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

ways  as  are  intended  to  lead  the  soul  up- 
wards, he  will  approach  it  with  his  moral 
convictions  clear  and  firm  and  a  faith  con- 
necting him  as  directly  with  his  God. 

Here  it  is,  then,  that  we  find  the  answer 
to  account  for  the  different  degrees  of 
poetry.  Poetry  has  three  objects  with 
varying  degrees  enter  into  it — man,  nature 
and  God.  The  presence  of  the  last  pervades 
all  great  poetry,  whether  it  bows  the  knee 
in  reverence  directly  before  Him,  or 
whether  the  presence  be  only  indirectly  felt, 
as  the  centripetal  force  toward  which  all 
deep  thoughts  about  man  and  nature  ul- 
timately tend.  The  deeper  tones  and  the 
sublimer  beauty  hidden  in  nature  will  be 
inaudible  and  invisible  unless  the  eye  and 
the  ear  penetrate  the  deep  things  of  the 
heart.  And  it  is  the  work  of  the  artist  to 
set  it  forth  for  others  in  its  breathing  life. 

For  the  soul,  however,  to  take  in  all  that 
nature  contains,  there  must  be  present  not 
only  the  observing  eye,  but  also  the  feeling 
heart  alive  to  all  that  is  most  real  in  life, 
its  source  and  destiny.  And  in  every 
''study"  there  must  be  the  upward  look 
toward  the  uncreated.  As  man  looks  out 
upon  the  face  of  the  earth,  sky  and  sea,  and 
is  moved  by  the  thought  whence  their  origin 
and  whither  their  destiny,  the  answer  must 
unconsciously  enter  in  and  give  color  and 
character  to  all  he  does.     It  can  hardly  be 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  131 

Otherwise  than  that  a  man's  inner  thoughts 
about  these  answers  will  find  their  way  to 
some  expression,  whether  he  be  painter, 
musician,  sculptor,  or  poet.  In  fact,  so 
closely  and  deeply  interwoven  are  all  the 
parts  of  the  universe  that  only  as  a  man 
rises  to  a  full  conception  of  it  and  of  its 
manifold  harmonies,  can  he  set  forth  for 
others  that  central  harmony  which  sets  it 
right  with  man  and  God.  This  Homer  and 
Lucretius  and  many  other  Greek  and  Roman 
poets  did  to  a  remarkable  degree.  This 
many  Christian  poets  did  to  a  still  greater 
degree. 

But  nowhere  do  we  find  this  central 
harmony  in  all  its  fulness  and  effulgence  as 
we  find  it  in  the  Hebrew  writings;  in  the 
Psalms  of  David,  and  the  Book  of  Job. 
These  Hebrew  poets  reflect  their  faith  in 
the  unity  of  God  and  His  immediate  pres- 
ence in  all  created  things.  By  such  inspira- 
tion, Job  was  enabled  to  say,  long  before 
science  said  it,  that  the  earth  was  globular 
and  that  it  hung  in  space.  By  the  Hebrew 
poets  the  world  is  described  not  in  detail, 
but  as  a  whole  in  extension  and  movements ; 
and  if  the  individual  object  is  dwelt  upon, 
it  is  as  a  visible  witness  of  the  Infinite  One. 
Here  you  do  not  find  nature  spoken  of  as 
an  independent  or  self-subsisting  power,  but 
as  the  outer  garment,  tTie  veil  of  an  unseen 
presence.    Search  through  all  the  literature 


132  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

of  Greece  and  Rome  in  the  palmiest  days, 
and  you  will  not  find  anything  to  compare 
with  the  104th  Psalm  in  the  setting  of  the 
entire  universe  in  its  completeness,  grandeur 
and  beauty.  Here  you  have  a  picture  of  the 
entire  universe — earth  and  sky,  and  the 
progress  of  man  in  the  midst  of  them — set 
forth  "not  as  the  scribes,  but  as  by  one  hav- 
ing authority."  Listen  to  one  who  can  read 
aright  the  poetry  in  nature  in  all  its  fullness 
and  richness : 

"Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul.  O  Lord  my 
God,  thou  art  very  great;  thou  art  clothed 
with  honor  and  majesty. 

Who  coverest  thyself  with  light  as  with 
a  garment ;  who  stretchest  out  the  heavens 
like  a  curtain; 

Who  layeth  the  beams  of  his  chamber  in 
the  waters  ;  who  maketh  the  clouds  his  char- 
iot;  who  walketh  upon  the  wings  of  the 
world ; 

Who  maketh  his  angels  spirits ;  his  minis- 
ters a  flaming  fire ; 

Who  laid  the  foundations  of  the  earth, 
that  it  should  not  be  removed  forever. 

Thou  coverest  it  with  the  deep  as  with  a 
garment ;  the  waters  stood  above  the  moun- 
tains. 

At  thy  rebuke  they  fled;  at  the  voice  of 
thy  thunder  they  hasted  away. 

They  go  up  by  the  mountains;  they  go 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  133 

down  by  the  valleys  unto  the  place  which 
thou  hast  founded  for  them. 

Thou  hast  set  a  bound  that  they  may  not 
pass  over ;  that  they  turn  not  again  to  cover 
the  earth. 

He  sendeth  the  springs  into  the  valleys, 
which  run  among  the  hills. 

They  give  drink  to  every  beast  of  the 
field;  the  wild  asses  quench  their  thirst. 

By  them  shall  the  fowls  of  the  heaven 
have  their  habitation,  which  sing  among  the 
branches. 

He  watereth  the  hills  from  his  chambers, 
the  earth  is  satisfied  with  the  fruit  of  thy 
works. 

He  causeth  the  grass  to  grow  for  the 
cattle,  and  herb  for  the  service  of  men;  that 
he  may  bring  forth  food  out  of  the  earth; 

And  wine  that  maketh  glad  the  heart  of 
man,  and  oil  to  make  his  face  to  shine,  and 
bread  which  strengtheneth  man's  heart.' 

The  trees  of  the  Lord  are  full  of  sap ;  the 
cedars  of  Lebanon,  which  he  hath  planted; 

Where  the  birds  make  their  nests ;  as  for 
the  stork,  the  fir  trees  are  her  house. 

The  hgh  hills  are  a  refuge  for  the  wild 
goats ;  and  the  rocks  for  the  conies. 

He  appointed  the  moon  for  seasons;  the 
sun  knoweth  his  going  down. 

Thou  makest  darkness,  and  it  is  night; 
wherein  all  the  beasts  of  the  forest  do  creep 
forth. 


134  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

The  young  lions  roar  after  their  prey, 
and  seek  their  meat  from  God. 

The  sun  ariseth,  they  gather  themselves 
together,  and  lay  them  down  in  their  dens. 

Man  goeth  forth  unto  his  work  and  to  his 
labor  until  the  evening. 

0  Lord,  how  manifold  are  thy  works!  in 
wisdom  hast  thou  made  them  all ;  the  earth 
is  full  of  thy  riches. 

So  is  this  great  and  wide  sea,  where:n  are 
things  creeping  innumerable,  both  small  and 
great  beasts. 

There  go  the  ships;  there  is  that 
leviathan,  whom  thou  hast  made  to  play 
therein. 

These  wait  all  upon  thee ;  that  thou 
mayest  give  them  the'r  meat  in  due  season. 

That  thou  givest  them,  they  gather ;  thou 
openest  thine  hand,  they  are  filled  with 
good. 

Thou  hidest  thy  face,  they  are  troubled; 
thou  takest  away  their  breath,  they  die  and 
return  to  their  dust. 

Thou  sendest  forth  thy  spirit,  they  are 
created ;  and  thou  renewest  the  face  of  the 
earth. 

The  glory  of  the  Lord  shall  endure  for- 
ever; the   Lord  shall  rejoice  in  his  works. 

He  looketh  on  the  earth  and  it  trembleth ; 
he  toucheth  the  hills,  and  they  smoke. 

1  will  sing  unto  the   Lord  as  long  as  I 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  135 

live ;  I  will  sing  praise  to  my  God  while  I 
have  my  being. 

My  meditation  of  Him  shall  be  sweet;  I 
will  be  glad  in  the  Lord ! 

Let  the  sinners  be  consumed  out  of  the 
earth,  and  let  the  wicked  be  no  more.  Bless 
thou  the  Lord,  O  my  soul,  praise  ye  the 
Lord! 


136  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 


CHAPTER  VII. 
Prophecy  of  Nature. 

It  has  often  been  said  by  those  who  regard 
nature  as  a  system  of  mechanics  that,  if  a 
man  had  a  sufficient  mathematical  knowl- 
edge of  the  universe  at  a  given  period  of 
time,  he  might  predict  its  condition  at  any 
future  age.  From  the  knowledge  of  a  lim- 
ited arc,  the  whole  curve  of  time  might  be 
described.  What  is  lacking  is  an  intelli- 
gence omniscient  enough  to  make  the  cal- 
culation. The  presumption  is  that  the  uni- 
verse is  as  intelligible  as  an  equation,  but 
there  is  still  lacking  the  master  to  work  it 
out.  We  will  not  state  the  pros  and  cons 
of  the  argument,  but  let  it  remind  us  that 
the  world  is  rationally  made  and  hence 
admits  of  rational  forecast  to  a  remarkable 
degree.  It  reminds  us  that,  inasmuch  as  the 
world  is  orderly  and  intellgible,  the  known 
parts  and  the  observable  tendencies  of 
things  may  warrant  many  prophecies  of 
future  conditions  and  of  future  fulfillments. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  here  to  commit  my- 
self for  or  against  the  theory  of  evolution. 
It  is  not  necessary  that  I  should  do  so,  but 
I  do  desire  to  say  to  those  who  accept  it 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  137 

that  for  them  nature  is  a  clear  word  of 
prophecy  in  her  principles  of  completion. 
Imagine  yourself  as  an  observer  in  some 
earlier  geological  age  and  from  that  point 
endeavoring  to  predict  the  future  of  this 
earth.  If  you  were  a  logician  you  might  read 
forward  with  much  prophetic  assurance, 
facts  which  we  now  learn  to  read  backward. 
The  sure  principle  of  natural  prophecy  is 
that  nature  will  not  stop  nor  tarry  till  all 
her  decrees  of  perfection  shall  be  completed. 
And  on  the  last  height  of  nature's  ascent 
appears  the  unfinished  life  of  man.  What 
does  this  prophesy  for  us?  It  marks  the 
culmination  so  far  as  has  been  revealed 
within  the  limits  of  visible  nature.  All  lines 
in  nature  converge  upon  man,  and  thence 
nature's  prophecies  find  in  man  their  prom- 
ised Messiah.  Th's  principle  of  perfection 
in  nature  is  recognized.  (Vide  Nageli,  the 
eminent  botanist,  in  the  introduction  to  his 
book  in  which  he  sums  up  his  investigations 
of  plant  life,  shows  that,  and  it  applies  to 
our  life,  and  prophesies  that  we  also  shall 
be  made  perfect.) 

Then  also  eternal  life  involves  in  its  sci- 
entific "dea  perfect  environment.  On  the 
one  side  there  must  be  a  real  spiritual  free- 
dom,)— that  is,  there  must  be  a  character 
made  safe  in  its  moral  integrity — and  on  the 
other  side  there  must  likewise  be  an  en- 
vironment correspond'ng  to  its  being,  as  the 


138  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

light  answers  to  the  eve  for  its  vision.  This 
is  the  complete  harmony  of  the  spirit  of  man 
in  the  presence  of  God.  Or,  as  Jesus  said : 
"To  know  God  is  eternal  life."  But  his 
present  life,  spiritual  in  character,  is  only 
nature's  prophecy  of  its  final  consummation. 
This  is  but  the  embyro.  The  age  of  spirit — 
the  golden  age — is  not  yet  here ;  it  is  only 
coming.  Now  man  is  only  heir  apparent 
and  not  yet  king  enthroned.  But  heir  he  is, 
for  toward  completion  ''the  whole  creation 
groaneth  and  travaileth,"  and  surely  tends. 
This  is  the  positive  momentum  of  the  argu- 
ment in  nature  for  our  immortality — and 
this  is  a  welcome  prophet. 

Look  at  another  clear  word  of  prophecy : 
The  last  word  of  organic  development  is  the 
individual.  In  any  scientific  conception,  the 
idea  of  the  perfection  of  the  individual  is 
involved.  You  cannot  conceive  of  the  ful- 
fillment of  life — a  perfect  life — apart  from 
this.  Low  in  the  scale  the  individual  was 
sacrificed  for  the  benefit  of  the  species.  On 
the  highest  round  the  species  exists  also  for 
the  individual,  and  man,  the  individual,  has 
acquired  survival  value.  Personal  immortal- 
ity is  henceforth  nature's  best,  and  nature's 
best  is  nature's  sure  prophecy  of  the  com- 
ing life.  In  their  hunger  and  thirst  for  life 
our  own  human  hearts  become  their  own 
true  prophets ;  and  our  best  life  is  our  best 
interpreter.     The  history  of  life  affirms  that 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  139 

the  world's  hunger  is  nature's  true  prophet, 
telling  us  that  we  shall  be  satisfied.  And 
while  hunger  may  seem  cruel  for  the  time 
being,  at  last  it  will  be  crowned  with  a 
beatitude:  "Blessed  are  they  that  hunger 
and  thirst  after  righteousness,  for  they  shall 
be  filled."  Upon  this  highest  mountain  we 
behold  our  humanity  transfigured  and  glori- 
fied in  the  Son  of  Man.  In  Him  life  and 
immortality  were  brought  to  light. 

And  yet,  remember  that  the  prophet  must 
have  insight  before  he  can  have  foresight. 
In  so  far  as  the  books  are  true  to  nature,  we 
may  rightly  claim  that  history,  geology, 
chemistry,  biology,  astronomy,  as  also 
natural  history,  physics  and  botany,  are  all 
among  the  prophets,  some  major  and  some 
minor.  To  say  that  history  repeats  itself  is 
but  another  way  of  saying  that  it  foretells. 
By  a  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  meteorology 
we  are  enabled  to  predict  the  coming  storm. 
The  Revealed  Word,  long  years  ago  set 
forth  the  fundamental  principle  of  that  pet 
science  of  today.  "The  wind  goeth  toward 
the  south  and  turneth  about  unto  the  north 
— and  the  wind  returneth  again  according 
to  his  circuits."  Eccles.  i  :6. 

But  especially  astronomy — *'the  stars 
also" — shall  be  counted  among  the  proph- 
ets. Some  years  ago  Dr.  Joseph  Seiss  pub- 
lished a  remarkable  book  entitled  "The 
Gospel  in  the  Stars."    He  might  have  called 


140  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

it,  with  equal  truth,  'Trophecy  in  the 
Stars;"  for  while  this  ancient  teaching 
sets  forth  in  picture  form  the  cardi- 
nal points,  enfolding  the  whole  story 
of  the  fall  and  redemption,  death  and 
life  eternal,  and  the  ultimate  tri- 
umph of  God  over  Satan  and  evil,  it  does  all 
this  by  way  of  prediction  and  hence  it  is 
prophetic. 

The  book  attempts  to  interpret  the  signs 
of  the  Zodiac,  a  picture  of  the  heavenly 
bodies,  so  ancient  that  many  believe  that  it 
was  handed  down  from  antediluvian  times ; 
while  some  even  date  its  origin  back  to  the 
days  of  Seth  or  of  Enoch,  ''who  walked  with 
God."  Whence  it  came  and  what  it  all 
means,  are  the  questions  answered  in  the 
author's  book.  Dr.  Seiss  acknowledges  the 
valuable  a'd  of  Frances  Rolleston  in  her 
book  entitled  "The  Mazzaroth ;  or,  The 
Constellation."  In  Frances  Rolleston's  book, 
as  regards  the  names  of  the  constellations, 
she  advances  what  I  believe  is  the  true 
theory:  viz.,  that,  as  the  Arabs  and  Greeks 
and  others  have  carried  over  the  traditions 
of  the  signs  in  broken  and  legendary  form, 
so  that  they  may  all  be  traced  to  a  common 
original,  so  have  they  carried  over  many  of 
the  names,  not  translating  them,  but  retain- 
ing them  without  holding  the  original  sense ; 
and  hence  all  that  is  necessary  for  the  stu- 
dent is  to  refer  these  name  forms  to  the 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  141 

Hebrew  roots,  and  he  will  thus  obtain  a 
consistent  and  rational  confirmation  of  the 
wisdom  of  the  method.  It  is  my  purpose  in 
the  briefest  possible  way  to  set  forth  the 
substance  of  the  prophecies  in  the  stars  as 
seen  in  the  signs  of  the  Zodiac,  and  direct 
you  to  Dr.  Bullinger,  Miss  Rolleston,  and 
Dr.  Seiss,  for  further  investigation. 

It  seems  to  me  that  the  fact  is  well  estab- 
lished that,  in  the  absence  of  a  written  reve- 
lation, the  doctrine  of  redemption  was  in- 
scribed upon  the  heavens  for  the  antedlu- 
vians,  and  linked  with  the  discoveries  of 
astronomical  science.  A  book  entitled  'Tri- 
meval  Man  Unveiled"  advances  this  theory, 
and  many  portions  of  the  Bible  imply  this. 
When  you  read  Job  9  124  and  38  you  feel  as 
though  that  author  knew  all  about  the  signs 
of  the  Zodiac  and  their  attendant  (decans). 
It  is  as  reasonably  certain  as  anything  can 
well  be  that,  with  the  stars  that  look  down 
upon  the  earth  night  after  night  unchanged 
from  age  to  age,  there  has  been  associated 
from  the  earliest  ages  the  great  purpose  of 
redemption.  When  this  fact,  associating 
with  it  the  marvelous  interpretation  of  the 
signs  of  the  Zodiac,  is  compared  with  the 
written  Word,  the  wonderful  likeness  be- 
tween them  must  compel  the  assent  of  the 
mind  to  the  proposition  that  the  signs  and 
the  written  Word  emanated  from  a  common 
author. 


142  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATUEE 

As  relates  to  those  ancient  people,  we 
confess  with  the  apostle  that  ''the  invisible 
things  of  Him  from  the  creation  of  the 
world  are  clearly  seen,  being  perceived  by 
the  things  that  are  made,  even  His  everlast- 
ing power  and  divinity."  In  the  story  of 
creation,  when  the  "lights"  were  made,  it 
was  expressly  said,  ''and  let  them  be  for 
signs  and  for  seasons ;"  and,  •  lest  there 
should  be  a  mistake  as  to  what  was  includ- 
ed, it  was  said,  ''the  stars  also." 

A  sign  is  something  arbitrarily  selected  to 
represent  some  other  thing.  The  letters  of 
the  alphabet  are  signs — signs  of  sound  and 
number.  The  notes  on  a  clef  of  musical 
writing  are  signs — signs  of  the  pitch  and 
value  of  certain  tones  of  voice  or  instru- 
ment. There  is  no  relation  whatever  be- 
tween these  signs  and  the  things  they  signi- 
fy, except  that  men  have  agreed  to  employ 
them  for  that  purpose ;  and  so  with  an 
astrological  sign.  When  God  said,  "Let  them 
be  for  signs,"  He  meant  them  to  be  used  to 
signify  something  beyond,  and  additional 
to,  what  they  express  in  their  nature  and 
natural  offices.  Nor  can  any  sense  be 
naturally  deduced  from  the  words,  consist- 
ent with  the  dignity  of  the  record,  says 
Seiss,  "without  admitting  that  God  intended 
from  the  beginning  that  these  orbs  of  light 
should  be  made  to  bear,  express,  and  con- 
vey some   special  teaching,  different   from 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  143 

that  which  is  naturally  deducible  from 
them."  And  as  the  Creator  named  and 
numbered  the  stars,  "the  heavens  declare 
the  glory  of  God." 

Much  emphasis  in  our  day  is  laid  on  the 
principle  of  teaching  by  illustrations,  by 
pictures,  picture  galleries,  and  moving  pic- 
tures. We  even  teach  the  relative  parts  of 
a  sentence  by  a  picture — a  diagram.  I  said, 
in  our  day  we  emphasize  this  method,  but 
the  truth  is,  that  the  farther  back  we  go,  the 
more  this  method  was  used;  and  the  first 
kind  of  writing  of  which  we  have  knowl- 
edge consisted  nearly  altogether  of  pictures. 
The  Old  Testament  gives  instances  of 
Mnemonic  devices  whereby  the  children  of 
Israel  were  kept  in  remembrance  of  the 
Divine  promises  and  fulfillment. 

When  we  study  astronomy,  we  are  first 
reminded  that,  from  the  very  earliest  days, 
the  sky  has  been  conceived  of  as  being  a 
vast  picture-book  containing  strange 
figures.  This  picture-book  is  known  as  the 
Zodiac,  and  it  has  been  handed  down  to  us 
from  the  dimmest  antiquity ;  or  with  but 
slight  variation,  as  has  already  been  stated, 
probably  from  the  days  of  Seth  or  Enoch. 
''These  signs  were  known  in  all  ages  and 
among  all  nations.  Any  zodiac  plate 
gives  a  view  of  their  forms  and  their  re- 
spective positions,  as  assigned  by  the 
original  designer. 


144  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

What  is  the  Zodiac  and  what  does  it 
mean?  The  word  means  a  way.  Along  a 
path  in  the  heavens,  known  to  us  as  the 
ecliptic,  the  sun  seems  to  make  an  annual 
revolution  of  the  heavens.  This  path  is  a 
nature-indicated  belt,  about  sixteen  degrees 
wide,  extending  around  the  entire  circuit  of 
the  heavens,  half  the  year  north  and  half 
the  year  south  of  the  equator  of  the  earth 
extended  into  the  sky.  It  is  divided  into 
twelve  seasons,  through  each  of  which  the 
sun  journeys  in  the  course  of  a  month,  so 
that  at  the  end  of  the  twelfth  month  he  ap- 
pears to  be  about  where  he  started  at  the 
beginning  of  the  first  month.  Each  of  these 
sections  contains  a  number  of  stars  which 
make  up  a  group  or  constellation,  which 
has  its  own  particular  picture  or  "sign"  to 
designate  it  and  after  which  it  is  called. 
These  are  known  to  us  in  the  memory 
verse : 

*The  ram,  the  bull,  the  heavenly  twins, 
And  next  the  crab  the  lion  shines, 

The  virgin  and  the  scales ; 
The  scorpion,  arches  and  sea-goat, 
The  man  that  carries  the  water-pot. 

And  fish  with  glittering  tail." 

Three  decans,  indicated  on  the  chart  by 
connecting  lines,  belong  to  each  main 
constellation  (th'rty-six  in  all).  The  inter- 
dependence of  the  designs  show  that  they 
could  not  be  accidental;  and  clearly  the 
entire  picture-book    is    a    single    concerted 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  145 

work,  intended  to  convey  some  instruction 
to  men  in  a  form  easily  remembered. 

Here,  then,  we  have  before  us  the  ancient 
picture-book.  Let  us  read  it  and  see  how  it 
confirms  the  statement  that,  ere  the  writte*!! 
revelation  was  given,  God  did  not  leave 
Himself  without  witness,  and  that  in  the  sky 
"domed  above  us  with  its  heavenly  frescoes, 
painted  by  the  thought  of  the  Great  Artist/* 
the  sons  of  men  possessed  in  pictured  out- 
line the  story  of  His  great  redemption. 

Modern  writings  are  divided  into  books, 
chapters  and  paragraphs.  A  careful  study 
of  any  zodiac  chart  (you  should  follow  the 
chart)  shows  an  orderly  arrangement,  as  it 
were,  into  books  and  chapters.  The  twelve 
signs  of  the  Zodiac  are  divided  into  a  trin- 
ity (three)  of  four  signs  each,  and  each 
trinity  presents  one  main  theme.  Then 
each  main  theme  is  again  divided  and  sub- 
divided by  its  sign  and  decans. 

It  is  generally  agreed  by  students  of  this 
picture-book  that  the  initiatory  sign  of  the 
Zodiac  is  Virgo,  and  the  internal  evidence 
will  satisfy  you  that  here  is  the  place  to  be- 
gin to  read. 

Trinity  I. 

A  Redeemer  Prophesied. 

Sign  I. 

The  Seed  of  the  Woman. 


146  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

Having  determined  the  method  and  the 
starting  point,  we  begin  the  reading.  The 
first  trinity  contains  the  Virgin,  the  Scales, 
the  Scorpion  and  the  Archer.  (Follow  them 
on  the  chart.)  They  all  tell  a  story  which 
opens  with  the  woman  and  her  seed,  and 
closes  with  the  casting  down  of  the  Dragon. 
The  attendant  decans  help  to  tell  how  the 
seed  of  the  woman  accomplished  all  this. 
The  promise  in  the  written  work  pointing 
to  a  Redeemer,  is  in  Gen.  3:15  'Tt  (her 
seed)  shall  bruise  thy  head  and  thou  shalt 
bruise  his  heel."  I  need  not  tell  the  reader 
of  the  agreement  of  these  two  prophecies 
and  their  literal  fulfillment. 

Constellation  I. — Coma. 

The  first  attendant  constellation  or  decan 
to  Virgo  is  Coma.  It  is  the  name  of  the 
child  in  the  Virgin's  arms,  and  means  de- 
sired or  longed  for.  ''The  desire  of  all  na- 
tions shall  come."    Haggai  2  7. 

Constellation  II. — Centaurus. 

The  second  constellation  is  known  as 
Centaur.  It  is  below  the  Virgin  and  is  rep- 
resented as  man  and  horse-man.  The  figure 
clearly  represents  two  natures.  The  Hebrew 
name  for  this  figure  is  Bezeh,  which  means 
the  despised  on.e. 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  147 

Constellation  III. — Bootes. 

In  this  constellation  we  have  the  figure 
of  a  man  walking  rapidly,  carrying  a  spear 
in  his  right  hand  and  a  sickle  in  his  uplifted 
hand.  This  Greek  name  is  most  likely  a 
remnant  of  the  Hebrew  root  Bo,  meaning 
the  coming:  'He  who  cometh  to  judge  the 
earth."  ''Thus  these  star  pictures  tell  us  (in 
this  first  chapter)  that  it  would  be  as  a 
child  that  the  Promised  Seed  should  come 
forth  and  grow  and  wax  strong  in  spirit 
and  be  filled  with  wisdom ;  and  that  as  a 
man  having  two  natures  He  should  suffer 
and  die.  Then  the  third  and  last  section  in 
this  first  sign  of  this  first  trinity  goes  on  to 
tell  of  His  second  coming  in  glory."  (Dr. 
Bullinger.) 

Sign  11. 

The  Work  of  the  Redeemer  Foretold. 

The  first  sign  sets  forth  the  broad  outline 
of  the  whole  subject,  and  each  succeeding 
sign  supplies  the  details. 

Following  the  Virgin  in  the  pathway  of 
the  Zodiac  is  a  pair  of  balances.  Libra,  with 
one  scale  higher  than  the  other.  The 
Hebrew  name  is  Mozanaim,  the  scales.  This 
suggests  the  helplessness  of  human  effort. 
"By  the  deeds  of  the  law  shall  no  flesh  be 
justified."     The  human  race  is  weighed  in 


148  THE  BIBLE  01  NATURE 

the  balance  and  found  wanting.  In  the 
southern  scale  the  name  of  the  star  is  Zuben 
al  Genube,  and  means,  the  price  deficient. 
(This  is  man's  effort.)  But,  thanks  be  to 
God,  the  name  in  the  scale  which  pulls 
down  is  Zuben  al  Akrabi,  and  it  means  "the 
price  which  covers." 

Constellation  I. — The  Cross. 

Remarkable  indeed  that  at  this  point  of 
considering  the  price,  we  should  turn  to 
the  darkest  of  the  heavens  and  there  behold 
the  cross.  The  Hebrew  name  for  this 
constellation  was  Adom,  and  means  cutting 
off,  as  in  Daniel  9:29:  ''After  three  score 
and  two  weeks  shall  Messiah  be  cut  off." 

The  picture  of  the  Zodiac  was  construct- 
ed in  northern  latitudes,  and  on  it  the  cross 
appeared  very  low  down  to  the  south.  ''The 
southern  cross  was  just  visible  in  the  lati- 
tude of  Jerusalem  at  the  time  of  the  coming 
of  our  Lord  to  die.  Because  of  the  recession 
of  the  Polar  Star  it  gradually  disappeared 
and  became  invisible  at  Jerusalem  just 
when  the  real  sacrifice  was  offered — the 
price  paid." 

Constellation  II. — The  Victim. 

The  second  decan  associated  with  Libra 
continues  the  thought  suggested  by  the 
cross.      Here   is    an   animal   falling   on    its 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  14& 

back,  pierced  and  slain.  The  ancient  Hebrew 
and  Arabic  names  Aseda  and  Asedation 
mean  to  be  slain.  The  New  Testament 
reads^:  ''By  ^  wicked  hands  crucified  and 
slain."  Yet  it  is  nevertheless  true  that  our 
Lord  "laid  down  His  life  for  the  sheep." 

Constellation   HI.— The   Crown. 

Whatever  the  theme  of  these  stellar  reve- 
lations, the}^  always  end  with  the  great  con- 
summation. This  constellation  is  a  beautiful 
crescent  of  stars.  The  Hebrews  called  it 
Atarach,  a  kingly  crown.  If  this  heavenly 
picture-book  illustrates  the  same  story  as 
the  Bible,  we  should  expect  to  find  the 
humiliation  and  the  exaltation  set  forth; 
and  that  :"s  what  occurs.  For  here  we  have 
the  cross  and  the  crown. 

Sign  HI. 
The  Great  Conflict  Foretold. 
All  up  and  down  the  Old  Testament  we 
are  reminded  of  a  mighty  conflict  between 
the  evil  and  the  good.  This  prophetic  pic- 
ture is  carried  forward  and  is  more  clearly 
revealed — fulfilled  I  should  say — in  our 
Lord's  temptation  in  the  wilderness  and  in 
His  conflict  in  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane. 
Does  this  find  a  place  in  the  heavenly 
picture-book?  Rising  just  above  the  scales 
in  the  circles  of  the  Zodiac  is  a  group  of 
stars  known  as  the  scorpion.  "The  scorpion. 


150  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

as  a  living  thing  is  a  spider-like  insect, 
formed  something  like  a  small  lobster,  with 
an  extended  chain-like  tail,  ending  in  a 
crooked  horny  sting  loaded  with  irritant 
poison.  To  be  struck  by  a  scorpion  is  often 
fatal,  though  not  necessarily  so ;  but  the 
pain  from  it  is  the  intensest  that  can  be  in- 
flicted on  the  human  body."  The  figure  and 
its  attitude  have  a  story  to  tell,  and  it  is 
prophetic  of  the  story  in  the  written  word. 
In  the  land  where  these  figures  originated, 
the  scorpion  surely  was  the  symbol  of  dark- 
ness and  danger,  and  of  being  in  league  with 
death.  The  fuller  meaning  also  appears 
when  we  consider  its  decans. 

Constellation  I. — The  Serpent. 

As,  in  the  first  decan  of  Virgo,  there  is 
carried  forward  the  idea  of  the  Seed,  found 
in  the  main  sign,  so  in  this  decan  there  is 
carried  forward  in  the  serpent  the  idea  of 
the  scorpion  power.  So  we  may  expect 
here,  as  we  find  it,  the  serpent  struggling 
to  reach  the  crown.  The  iHebrew  name  is 
Alyah,  the  accursed. 

Constellation   11. — Ophiuchus. 

The  name  of  this  man,  both  in  Hebrew 
and  Arabic,  is  Afeichus ;  and  it  means  the 
serpent  held.  The  serpent,  by  subtlety, 
robbed  the  first  man  of  the  dominion  held 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  151 

out  to  him ;  but  he  has  now  to  reckon  with 
the  second  man,  the  Lord  from  heaven.  In 
vain  he  tried  temptation  in  the  wilderness ; 
in  vain  he  tried  persecution  and  the  cross. 
But  the  picture  is  complete  in  what  follows. 

Constellation  III. — Hercules. 

This  constellation  is  represented  on  the 
chart  as  a  mighty  man  resting  on  one  knee 
with  heel  uplifted,  as  if  wounded.  His  left 
foot  is  set  upon  the  head  of  the  great 
Dragon  \vhich  wands  its  scaly  length  about 
the  ecliptic  pole.  He  has  a  great  club  in 
one  hand  and  in  the  other  he  holds  a  three- 
headed  monster  and  a  branch  with  fruit 
upon  it.  Surely  this  foretells  of  the  Con- 
queror of  the  serpent,  and  the  fruitful 
branch,  the  All-Powerful  King.  **God  and 
truth  and  right  must  triumph  in  the  end. 
The  Ophiuchus  who  holds  fast  will  not  lose 
his  crown.  The  scorp'on  may  sting  the  heel, 
but  the  foot  will  crush  its  head.  The  faith- 
ful wielder  of  the  club  of  righteousness  may 
be  brought  to  his  knees  (humiliation,)  but 
he  shall  yet  lift  up  the  instrument  of  his 
power  in  glorious  success,  strangle  Cerbe- 
rus, and  bear  off  in  triumph  the  apples  of 
gold,  whilst  the  great  dragon  writhes 
through  all  his  length  with  his  head  under 
the  heel  of  the  conqueror."  (Dr.  Seiss.)  "He 
shall  be  King  of  Kings  and  Lord  of  Lords !" 


152  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

Sign  IV. 

The  Warrior  and  His  Victory  Foretold. 

The  story  of  the  Bible  is  the  story  of  the 
conflict  between  the  powers  of  good  and 
evil.  The  plan  whereby  victory  shall  be  ac- 
complished is  told  in  history  and  in 
prophecy ;  and  the  more  that  plan  is  studied, 
the  more  it  will  be  admired  by  the  reader. 
Now  see  how  all  this  is  set  forth  by  those 
early  signs.  Following  the  scorpion  on  the 
Ecliptic  there  is  pictured  a  centaur  carrying 
a  bow,  with  an  arrow  fitted  on  the  string 
and  drawn  to  its  head,  ready  to  be  dis- 
charged. This  arrow  is  aimed  directly  at 
the  head  of  the  scorpion.  Observe  now 
that  this  is  the  second  centaur  and  that  it 
faces  the  first.  Both  carry  weapons.  That 
of  Centaurus  is  aimed  at  the  victim,  but 
Sagittarius  is  about  to  find  its  way  to  the 
heart  of  the  enemy.  Before  this  "men  be- 
gan to  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord." 
What  can  this  mean  if  not  Him  of  whom 
Enoch  and  other  preachers  spake?  Here  is 
the  same  divine  being  with  the  two  natures 
as  pictured  in  Centaurus  There  He  is  the 
''despised  and  rejected,"  here  He  is  going 
forth  conquering  and  to  conquer.  There  He 
is  low  down  in  the  horizon  with  the  out- 
stretched serpent  between  Him  and  the 
patch  of  the  sun ;  here  He  is  high  up  with 
His  head  on  the  line  of  the  ecliptic,  no  long- 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  153 

er  humiliated,  but  exalted,  with  a  name 
that  is  above  every  name,  "riding 
gloriously." 

Saggitarious  was  called  Kesith  by  the 
Hebrews,  and  meant  the  Archer.  Cuneiform 
inscriptions  designate  Saggitarius  as  the 
strong  one,  the  Giant  King  of  War. 

Constellation  I. — Lyra. 

The  decans  give  additional  information. 
Lyra  is  represented  as  a  harp  hung  on  an 
eagle's  neck.  The  word  means.  He  shall 
be  exalted.  In  the  Scriptures,  praise  is  rep- 
resented as  following  the  victory  of  the 
King.  "I  will  sing  unto  the  Lord;  for  He 
hath  triumphed  gloriously."  So  here;  and 
so,  as  on  eagle's  wings,  shall  praise  ascend. 

Constellation   H. — Ara. 

The  Greeks  used  the  word  Ara,  generally 
in  the  sense  of  crushing.  And  there  is  fire 
on  this  altar  which  is  upside  down.  Is  not 
this  the  symbol  of  judgment?  "A  fire  goeth 
before  Him  and  burneth  up  His  enemies 
round  about." — A  fire  awaiting  the  enemy, 
in  perdition,  when  he  shall  be  "cast  down." 

Constellation  III. — Draco. 

From  the  fires  of  the  inferno,  the  eye 
sweeps  the  heavens  toward  the  North  Pole. 


154  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

Here  is  a  long  and  huge  serpent,  winding  in 
folds  about  the  Pole.  In  the  Aramic  it  is 
still  called  Al  Waid,  who  is  to  be  destroyed. 
It  is  so  placed  that  whatever  its  position, 
as  it  circles  the  pole,  it  is  always  falling.  As 
seen  on  the  chart,  the  foot  of  Hercules  is 
planted  over  the  head  of  the  dragon,  a 
prophecy  of  that  which  shall  come  to  pass ; 
viz.,  his  destruction ;  but  in  this  picture  we 
see  him  falling  towards  the  burning  fire, 
"prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels." 

This  closes  the  first  book.  With  one 
gigantic  curve,  the  story  sweeps  from  the 
fall  to  the  great  redemption.  Marvelous 
indeed  is  the  harmony  of  this  picture  with 
that  of  the  written  word.  One  cannot  help 
but  feel  that,  to  the  early  men,  this  open 
book  had  a  great  religious  significance  and 
was  intended  to  perpetuate  truths  originally 
given  them  by  God  himself. 

Trinity  11. 

The   Life-Giver  Prophesied. 

Sign  I. 

Death  and  New  Life  Foretold. 

The  first  trinity  has  shown  the  work  of 
the  Redeemer  in  procuring  blessing  for  the 
world  by  His  death  on  the  cross  and  by  His 
victory  over  the  Great  Enemy.  This  trinity 
carries   forward   the   story   and   shows   the 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  155 

blessings  which  come  to  those  who  will  be 
redeemed.  In  this  trinity,  the  Goat  opens 
the  sign  and  the  ram  closes  it.  The  refer- 
ences in  Scripture  to  these  animals  show 
them  as  sacrificial.  The  signs  coming  be- 
tween these  are  connected  with  water  and 
fishes. 

The  forms  in  th's  second  trinity,  not 
found  elsewhere,  are  intended  to  teach  a 
special  lesson.  Capricornus  is  pictured  in 
the  Zodiac  as  fallen,  with  his  right  leg  bent 
under  his  body.  He  makes  a  futile  attempt 
to  rise.  The  Hebrew  name  is  Gedi,  the 
Goat ;  or,  cut  off.  Especially,  if  one  studies 
the  name  of  the  attendant  stars,  he  has  no 
difficulty  in  drawing  the  conclusion.  Here 
are  the  symbols  of  sacrificial  death.  But  of 
whom  and  for  whom?  The  vigorous  tail  of 
the  fish,  which  is  in  one  body  with  the  dying 
goat,  forms  a  picture  which  has  no  parallel 
in  nature ;  but  it  as  a  true  counterpart  in 
grace — life  from  the  dead — the  same  person 
who  d'es  and  lives  again.  By  means  of 
sacrificial  death,  life  was  secured  for  the 
church — the  sign  of  which  was  that  of  a 
fish. 

Constellation  I. — Sagitta. 

Sagitta  is  an  arrow  shot  from  an  invisible 
bow,  and  by  an  unseen  archer.  The  arrow 
speeds  its  way  to  the  heart  of  the  Redeem- 


156  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

er ;  and  "We  did  esteem  Him  stricken,  smit- 
ten of  God  and  afflicted."    Isa. 

Constellation  11. — Aquila. 

Aquila  is  the  second  decan.  It  is  the 
picture  of  an  eagle,  a  royal  bird,  falling 
pierced  and  wounded.  It  is  as  the  Lord 
saying,  "Thine  arrows  stick  fast  in  me." 
Ps.  38:2. 

Constellation  III. — Delphinus. 

This  is  a  figure  full  of  life.  The  head  of 
the  wounded  eagle  was  downward,  that  of 
the  dolphin  is  towards  the  pole.  The  sacri- 
ficial animal,  the  arrow  of  death  and  the 
falling  eagle,  all  tell  the  story  of  life  given 
and  taken.  What  can  this  last  be  but  the 
divine  completion  to  the  story,  the  resurrec- 
tion from  the  dead?  The  figure  of  the  vig- 
orous upspringing  fish  shows  the  transition 
to  a  new  life — a  life  of  another  order. 

Sign  11. 

The  Water  of  Life. 

"If  any  man  thirst  let  him  come  unto  me 
and  live."     John  7:37. 

Look  now  at  the  main  characteristic  of 
this  group  opening  with  Aquarius.  Vitality 
is  in  every  line  of  this  group.    The  preceding 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  157 

group  told  of  death  in  the  Goat,  the  Arrow 
and  the  Eagle.     But  from  that  death  there 
came  forth  life,  manifested  in  the  vigorous 
tail  of  the  fish  and  the  living  Delphin.    But 
in  this  group,  that  vitally  is  carried  forward 
and   appears   in   every  constellation.     Here 
IS  a  man  who  appears  to  be  in  the  act  of 
running  swiftly,  his  left  hand  uplifted.     He 
holds  on  his  right  arm  an  urn  from  which 
flows,  as  from  an  inexhaustible  reservoir,  a 
stream  which  enlarges  as  it  flows.     Beneath 
his  feet  is  a  fish  swimming  forward  to  meet 
the   stream.     The   fish   drinks   it  all.     Im- 
mediately   above    the    water-bearer,    is    the 
forepart  of  a  winged  horse  at  full  gallop. 
Higher  still  and  midway  to  the  pole  is  a 
swan,  a  bird  of  land  and  water,  speeding  its 
way  in  rapid  flight    through    the    heavens. 
Consider   this    picture    in    its   parts.      How 
significant  Aquarius  becomes  to  us  as  we 
listen  to  the  conversation  with  the  Samari- 
tan woman!     '*If  thou  knewest  the  gift  of 
God,  and  who  it  is  that  saith  to  thee,  Give 
me  to  drink,  thou  wouldest  have  asked  of 
Him,  and  He  would  have  given  thee  living 
water."     The  written  word  shows  that  He 
has  made  the  picture  a  glorious  fact. 

Constellation    I.— Piscis    Australis. 

This  is  the  fish  low  down  on  the  chart 
that  consumes  all  the  water.  The  bright 
star   in    this   group    is   called    Fomalhant, 


158  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

the  mouth  of  the  fish.  If,  in  the  main  sign, 
we  have  the  Giver  and  the  gift,  no  less 
clearly  are  we  shown  in  this  sign  the  gift, 
the  recipient,  and  the  vigor  it  received. 

Constellation  11. — Pegasus. 

The  Greeks  called  this  decan  Pegasus, 
horse  of  the  fountain.  Pegasus  carries  with 
it  the  idea  of  returning  swiftly,  bringing 
joy.  But  observe  this  speedy  advent  in  the 
last  decan. 

Constellation  III. — Coyquus. 

The  chart  gives  it  as  the  figure  of  a  mighty 
bird,  sweeping  through  mid  heaven.  In  all 
modern  languages,  at  least,  it  is  represented 
as  a  swan;  and,  as  that  is  a  bird  linked  to 
air,  earth,  and  water,  it  fittingly  symbolizes 
the  universality  of  the  blessings  to  be 
brought.  ''Beautiful  picture  of  most 
precious  prophetic  truth !  A  picture  which 
I  can  interpret  in  no  other  way  than  as 
designed  by  men  fully  informed  beforehand 
of  these  glorious  facts!  And  if,  perchance, 
these  constellations  were  not  meant  in 
token,  testimony,  and  prophecy  of  what  is 
foreknown,  believed,  and  expected  by  the 
primeval  patriarchs  who  arranged  them; 
the  picture  is  still  true  to  what  has  since 
come  to  pass,  and  which  it  is  part  of  our 
holy  religion  to  accept  and  rejoice  in  as  the 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  159 

great  mercy  of  God  to    a    fallen    world." 
(beiss.) 

Sign  III. 
Life  and  Dominion. 

..1?"^   p'   Denderah    Zodiac    this    sign    is 
called  Pisces  Hon,  the  fishes  of  Him  that 
Cometh.     Here  are  two    fishes,    vigorously 
swimmmg   one  along  the  line  of  the  ecliptic 
towards  the    water-pourer,    and    the    other 
shootmg  upwards  towards  the  pole      But 
the  picture  being  our  guide,  they  are  held 
m  by  the  band  of  ribbon  which,  fastened  to 
the  tail    of    each,    binds    them    to    the    sea 
monster.     Carrying    forward    the    idea    of 
bondage    here   suggested,    we    next   see    a 
woman  who  is  chained  to  the  sky— fetters 
on  her  wrists  and  ankles,  showing  how  com- 
plete appears  to  be  her  captivity.    The  last 
figure  of  the  form  is  that  of  a  man  whose 
othcial  position  is  clearly  indicated  by  the 
crown  he  wears  and  by  the  sceptre  he  holds 
m  his  right  hand.    What  do  they  mean?   If 
as  already  stated,  the  first  chapter  of  this 
second  book  shows  the  gift  of  life  to  pro- 
cure    life,     and     the     second     shows     the 
bestowment  of  that  life— then,  clearly,  this 
chapter  puts  beiore  us  the  life  in  vigorous 
manifestation.     By  the  fall  two  things  have 
been    forfeited— life    and    dominion.      The 
gospel  prophecy  dealt  with  these  two  items 


160  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

and  was  designed  to  show  how  they  should 
be  regained.  The  fish  in  the  other  sign 
represented  life.  Two  fishes  represent  life 
more  abundantly — life  and  dominion.  "I 
am  come  that  they  might  have  life,  and  that 
they  might  have  it  more  abundantly." 
John  io:io. 

Constellation  I. — The  Band. 

"By  this  band  these  two  fishes  are  insep- 
arably tied  together,  so  that  the  one  cannot 
get  on  without  the  other."  Its  Arabic  name 
is  Al  Risha,  the  band  or  bridle.  The  fishes 
speak  of  life.  This  band  fastened  to  the  sea 
monster  suggests  that,  with  all  that  life, 
still,  so  long  as  we  are  in  this  world  we  are 
subject  to  bondage. 

Constellation  II. — Andromeda. 

The  next  picture  is  a  peculiar  one.  It  is 
that  of  a  woman  with  fettered  feet  and 
arms,  bound  in  helplessness  to  the  sky. 
Andromeda  is  Greek,  and  means  man-ruler. 
This  carries  forward  the  idea  given  in  the 
band,  and  shows,  in  concrete  form,  the 
bondage  from  which  deliverance  is  sought. 
"O  wretched  man  that  I  am,  who  shall  de- 
liver me?"    The  next  decan  answers. 

Constellation  III. — Cepheus. 

Cepheus  is  from  a  Hebrew  root  and 
means  branch.    Here  is  the  figure  of  a  king. 


AND  THE  ETBLE  OF  GRACE  1«1 

wearing  a  royal  robe,  having  a  crown  on 
his  head,  and  holding  in  his  right  hand  the 
sceptre  of  dominion.  Is  not  this  the  answer 
to  the  question,  ''Who  shall  deliver?"  As 
we  look  now  over  the  four  signs,  may  we 
not  say  that  the  double  truth  is  clearly  sug- 
gested by  the  double  sign?  The  one  fish 
swims  towards  the  water-pourer,  as  if  for 
fresh  draughts  of  life,  and  the  other  towards 
the  pole,  where  sits  in  royal  splendor  the 
Deliverer— the  King  of  Life  and  Dominion. 

Sign  IV. 
The  Ever-Living  Conqueror. 

This  sign  gives  the  triumphant  deliver- 
ance from  the  power  of  the  enemy.     Glance 
at  the  figures  of  this  sign  and  catch  the  idea 
of  the   matter  and  course  of  its   teaching. 
Here  we  find,  as  the  first  picture,  a  Ram 
lymg  at  rest  on  the  ecliptic,  over  the  head 
of  the  sea  monster.     It  reminds  us  strongly 
of  the  Goat  in  the  opening  sign  of  this  book. 
Both  are  animals  of  sacrifice,  and  both  as 
such  have  the  closest  possible  relation  to 
the  purpose  and  bestowment  of  life,  in  the 
scriptures.     Their  position — one  at  the  be- 
ginning and   the  other  at   the   end   of  the 
book,  suggests  that,  in  the  order,  the  death 
of  the  sacrifice  is  followed  by  its  triumphant 
possession    of    life    in    full     vigor.       Two 
thousand  five  hundred  and  forty  years  ago 


162  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

the  Ram  opened  the  year.  "The  emblem 
and  the  names,  existing  before  what  they 
indicate  took  place,  were  prophetic,  and  are 
among  the  many  proofs  that  God  hath 
spoken.  He  commanded  Moses  so  to  fix 
the  Passover,  that,  during  the  darkness  of 
the  crucifixion,  the  star  so  named  should  be 
close  to  the  sun  and  the  whole  of  the  con- 
stellation Aries.  He  who  cometh  would  ap- 
pear around  it.  Man  could  not  predict  this 
coincidence,  but  God  by  Moses  prefigured 
it.  For  1500  years,  the  lamb  was  yearly 
slain  when  the  sun  was  among  these  stars ; 
but  the  Equinox  had  not  receded  thither. 
"Seasons,  months,  and  years  may  vary,  but 
the  Solstice  and  the  Equinox  never."  (Rol- 
leston.)  Some  may  say  it  was  blind  chance, 
but  "it  is  easier  to  believe  that  it  was  de- 
sign. It  makes  a  smaller  demand  on  faith." 
Surely  it  is  "the  Lamb  that  was  slain,"  but 
now  liveth. 

Constellation  I. — Cassiopeia. 

Its  Arabic  name  is  El  Seder,  the  freed. 
How  striking  the  difference  between  this 
woman  and  that  of  the  last  chapter! 
Andromeda  is  seen  bound  helpless  to  the 
sky.  This  woman  is  free  and  is  adorning 
herself  for  some  festal  occasion.  Cossiopeia 
is  the  Church,  the  bride  of  the  Lord  placed 
near  Cephus,  the  king,  and  is  freed  by  Him. 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  163 

Constellation  II. — Cetus. 

Heb.  Mehumah  Tehom  (the  chaos  of  the 
deep.)  It  represents  primarily  the  state  of 
chaos  (Gen.  i  :2.)  Is  not  this  great  sea 
monster  the  great  enemy  of  the  Bible  who 
is  put  before  us  as  Leviathan?     Isa.  27:1. 

Constellation  III. — Perseus. 

Heb.  Peretz,  the  Breaker.  This  is  the 
word  that  is  found  in  the  prophecy  of 
Micah,  who  tells  of  a  time  when  the  flock 
of  God  shall  be  gathered:  "The  Breaker  is 
gone  up  before  them — and  the  Lord  at  the 
head  of  them."  Micah  2:13. 

Trinity  III. 

The  Great  King  Prophesied. 

Sign  I. 

His  Advent  in  Power. 

As  the  first  and  second  trinities,  or  books, 
of  this  heavenly  library  had  each  its  specific 
theme  to  present,  so  also  has  this  third 
book.  No  sooner  do  we  open  it  and  view  its 
signs  than  we  notice  that  the  main  idea  pre- 
sented, is  that  of  the  great  King  as  regards 
His  victory  and  triumph,  associated  Avith 
the  idea  of  rest  and  safety.  The  trinity 
opens  with  the  figure  of  an  enraged  bull, 


164  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

"thrusting  through"  his  enemies  with  his 
long  sharp  horns ;  and  it  closes  with  the 
lion  aroused  to  wrath,  and  in  the  act  of 
rending  his  enemy  to  pieces.  Between  these 
two  powerful  signs  are  signs  suggestive  of 
possession  and  safety.  Here  is  wide  diversity 
of  representation,  but  a  wonderful  and  help- 
ful harmony. 

Taurus  or  Heb.  Shur,  the  bull  coming, 
is  represented  on  the  Zodiac  as  if  springing 
from  the  body  of  the  ram ;  and  thus  the  one 
person,  in  his  two  advents  in  redemption,  is 
visibly  set  forth.  In  this  constellation  are 
two  groups  of  stars,  the  Pleiades  and  the 
Hyades,  that  have  always  had  a  peculiar  in- 
terest to  men.  What  is  intended,  then,  by 
these  significant  groups  and  star-names? 
We  need  not  search  far  for  an  answer.  Here 
is  presented  the  Advent  in  Power.  It  is  a 
picture  of  the  resistless  advent  of  the  Judge, 
as  He  comes  to  destroy  His  legioned  foes; 
but  it  is,  at  the  same  time,  a  picture  which 
tells  of  the  safety  of  them  that  are  His. 

Constellation  I. — Orion. 

The  first  of  the  group  linked  with 
Taurus  is  Orion.  To  the  unaided  eye,  it 
presents  a  glorious  assemblage  of  stars. 
Orion  is  figured  on  the  map  as  a  "giant  hunt- 
er, with  a  mighty  club  in  his  right  hand,  in 
the  act  of  striking ;  and  in  his  left  the  skin  of 


AND  THE  riBLE  OF  GRACE  1^ 

a  slain  lion."  The  Scripture  refers  to  this 
constellation  by  name.  (Job.  9:9.)  The 
ancient  Accadian  name  was  Ur-ana,  the 
light  of  heaven.  It  is  equivalent  to  the' New 
Testament  title,  The  Light  of  the  World. 

Constellation  11. — Eridanus. 

From  the  foot  of  Orion  there  flows  a 
stream  of  stars,  curving  from  side  to  side, 
and  passing  under  the  paws  of  the  sea 
monster,  flowing  ever  downward  till  it 
passes  quite  out  of  sight.  Heb.  Eridanus, 
the  river  of  the  Judge.  This  is  "A  fire  that 
goeth  before  H  m  and  burneth  up  His 
enemies,  round  about."  Ps.  97:3. 

Constellation  III. — Auriga. 

Here  is  perfect  quietude,  rest  and  safety. 
The  figure  is  suggestive  of  the  passage  of 
Scnpture  which  speaks  of  the  Redeemer  as 
the  Shepherd— the  Shepherd  of  Power.  In 
the  midst  of  the  scenes  of  judgment  and 
wrath.  He  shows  mercy.    Isa.  40:  10,  11. 

Sign  II. 

Harmony  in  Rule  and  Redemption. 
*'So  like  they  were,  no  mortal 
Might  one  from  the  other  know." 

This  second  sign  presents  us  with  a  pic- 
ture of  two  human  figures.  Its  decans,  three 


166  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

four-footed  creatures — a  hare  and  two  dogs. 
As  in  the  Word  of  God  there  are  truths  re- 
peated in  other  aspects  by  other  metaphors, 
so  here  also.  The  star  names  and  the  fig- 
ures plainly  remind  us  here  again  of  the 
dual  nature  of  Christ  and  His  two-fold  work 
as  Redeemer  and  Conqueror. 

Constellation  I. — Lepus. 

Rest  and  repose  can  come  only  as 
the  enemy  who  hinders  it  is  put  out 
of  the  way.  In  Genesis  is  begun  the 
history  of  the  enemy,  and  the  Revelation 
gives  its  close;  but  long  ere  John  on  the 
Island  of  Patmos  saw  this,  the  fathers  of 
the  race  knew  of  the  overthrow  of  the 
enemy. 

Constellation  11. — Canis  Major. 

As  this  star  is  the  brightest  in  the 
heavens,  so  is  He  the  brightest  among  the 
princes  of  the  earth.  The  Wonderful  Coun- 
selor, the  Mighty  God,  the  Everlasting 
Father,  the  Prince  of  Peace. 

Constellation  III. — Canis  Minor. 

Hebrew  name,  parag,  redeemed.  Thus 
He  is  the  Redeemer  or  Deliverer.  He  is 
the  prince  in  that  representation  of  His 
work  set  forth  in  the  second  figure  of  the 
twins. 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  167 

Sign  III. 

Gathering  the  Ransomed. 

The  aspect  of  the  safety  and  shelter  of 
the  redeemed  is  here  set  forth  in  minute 
detail.  In  the  last  group  were  two  dogs — a 
greater  and  lesser;  and  in  this  figure  are 
two  bears,  a  greater  and  a  lesser.  The 
main  sign  is  cancer,  a  crab,  and 
the  last  decan  is  Argo,  the  ship. 
The  names  indicate  that  the  primitive  idea 
to  be  conveyed  was  that  of  holdings,  or  bind- 
ing together,  and  rest  secured.  "And  He 
saw  a  resting  place  that  it  was  good."  Gen. 
49:11. 

Constellation  I. — Ursa  Minor. 

This  is  the  fact  of  two-tailed  bears.  From 
the  name  it  seems  evident  that  the  meaning 
attached  to  the  main  sign  belongs  also  to 
this.    But  let  us  look  at  the  next. 

Constellation  II. — Ursa  Major. 

This  is  usually  known  as  the  great  bear. 
In  the  Old  Testament  it  is  mentioned : 
''Which  maketh  the  Bear,  Orion,  and  the 
Pleiades,  and  the  Chambers  of  the  South." 
Job  9:9.  As  the  names  indicate,  we  are 
here  shown  the  gathering  and  sheltering  of 
the  flocks  before  the  storm  of  wrath  bursts 
forth. 


168  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

Constellation  III. — Argo. 

This  is  represented  on  the  maps  as  a  ship 
coming  to  rest,  having  reached  port,  its  long 
voyage  over.     The  names  agree  with  this. 

Sign  IV. 

The  Overthrow  of  the  Enemy  Prophesied.- 
This  group  shows  a  lion  roused  to  wrath ; 
in  the  full  vigor  of  his  strength  he  is  ready 
to  rend  his  foe  in  pieces.  Beneath  him  is  the 
long,  outstretched  body  of  the  serpent. 
Upon  it  is  a  cup,  so  closely  united  to  it  that 
the  bottom  of  the  cup  is  formed  of  stars 
which  are  in  the  body  of  Hydra;  while  a 
bird  of  prey,  the  raven,  is  engaged  in 
feasting  upon  the  still  living  body  of  the 
serpent.  This  is  the  group,  and  we  venture 
the  assertion  that,  apart  from  the  story  of 
redemption,  it  has  no  possible  coherent 
explanation;  but  with  that  before  us  it  be- 
comes beautifully  clear,  and  puts  in  picture 
form  what  the  prophets  of  God  have 
sketched  in  His  word  in  clear  language. 
The  Book  of  Revelation  shows  the  Lion 
(of  the  tribe  of  Judah)  aroused  in  his 
majesty  to  action.  There  also  is  the  "Old 
Serpent,"  and  there,  too,  is  the  pouring 
forth  of  the  cup  of  divine  anger.  And, 
lastly,  there  is  the  call  to  the  ''birds  that  fly 
in  midheaven"  to  feast  upon  the  enemies  of 
the   Lord.     Is  this  merely  coincidence?     I 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  169 

think  not.     And  what  do  the  decans  say? 
They  complete  the  story. 

Constellation   I. — Hydra. 

This  is  the  longest  constellation  in  the 
sky.  In  this  long,  outstretched  form  of  the 
swift  or  fleeing  serpent  (Job  26:13),  are 
gathered  all  the  ideas  of  the  enemy  which 
has  been  before  us  in  these  heavenly  pic- 
tures; and,  as  the  lion  is  shown  as  aroused 
to  wrath,  alert,  and  ready  to  spring,  so  the 
enemy  is  represented  as  fleeing  from  him. 
This  is  "leviathan  the  swift  (gliding  or  flee- 
ing) serpent,  and  leviathan  the  crooked 
serpent."     Isa.  27:1. 

Constellation   II. — Crater. 

In  a  word,  this  is  the  cup  of  wrath — '*the 
cup  of  His  anger." 

Constellation  III. — Corous. 

"It  is  the  sign  of  the  absolute  discom- 
fiture and  destruction  of  the  serpent  and  his 
power;  for  when  the  birds  once  begin  to 
tear  and  gorge  the  flesh  of  fallen  foes,  no 
further  power  to  resist,  harm,  or  annoy 
remains  in  them."  Also  shown  in  Rev. 
19:17,  18,  etc. 

This  brings  us  to  the  end  of  our  story  of 
the  circle  of  the  Zodiacal  signs,  with  their 
decans. 


170  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

Beginning  with  the  sign  of  Virgo,  the 
successive  groups  have  presented  a  grow- 
ing and  consistent  display  of  the 
prophecy,  even  to  its  final  consummation 
of  the  Redeemer's  triumph,  in  the  enemy's 
final  overthrow ;  and  Revelation  agrees  with 
the  picture  to  such  a  remarkable  degree, 
that  infidels  have  made  the  charge,  at  times, 
that  the  latter  was  taken  from  the  former. 
Their  charge,  though  absurd  and  unfounded 
and  needing  no  reply,  does  remind  us  that 
this  harmony  must  be  accounted  for.  God 
did  not  leave  His  ancient  people  without 
witness.  In  some  way  he  spake  to  them 
and  set  forth  in  picture  form,  so  that  to  them 
literally  the  heavens  declared  the  glory  of 
God.  And  something  after  the  fashion  of 
the  bow  of  promise  to  the  post-diluvians,  so 
to  the  antediluvians  the  stars  of  heaven 
prophesied  of  a  calmer  day  and  a  kingdom 
wherein  dwelleth  righteousness. 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  171 


CHAPTER   VIII 

Gospel  In  Nature. 

Evidently  it  is  the  intent  and  purpose  of 
the  Gospel  of  Grace  to  lead  the  unwise,  as 
well  as  the  wise,  to  seek  and  to  find  Jesus. 
But  the  Wise  Men  saw  a  star  in  the  East, 
and  it  almost  served  that  same  purpose. 
That  Gospel  in  nature  guided  them  to  the 
very  temple  of  God  where  they  made  further 
inquiry,  and  the  prophet's  word  directed 
them  to  Bethlehem,  where  they  found  the 
Savior  whom  they  worshipped,  presenting 
unto  Him  gold  and  frankincense  and  myrrh. 

Now  astronomy  is  a  science  which  has 
arisen  from  man's  need  of  religion.  Other 
sciences  are  often  promoted  by  the  utilita- 
rian spirit.  But  in  astronomy  the  first  im- 
pulse came,  not  from  the  craving  of  the  in- 
tellect, but  from  the  wants  of  the  soul. 
Astronomy  was  the  relation  of  the  world's 
youth.  The  Wise  Men  were  led  by  a  star 
to  Christ.  Their  astronomy  was  the 
very  pathway  to  the  Saviour.  Hence 
the  folly  of  decrying  human  wisdom 
— science  or  philosophy.  Of  all  vanities,  the 
world  over,  th«  worst  is  the  vani-ty  of  ignor- 
ance. It  is  a  fact,  as  stated  in  a  former 
chapter,  that  some  Christian  people  depre- 


172  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

ciate  learning  as  though  it  were  a  disadvan- 
tage^ in  religion.  If  the  Christian  who 
decries  science,  simply  means  thereby  to 
affirm  that  science  is  not  religion  and  that 
it  does  not  necessarily  make  people  religious, 
he  is  stating  a  truth;  but  if  he  means  that 
such  learning  is  a  positive  hindrance  to  re- 
ligion then  he  is  virtually  saying  that  the 
Bible  of  Nature  does  not  accord  with  the 
Bible  of  Grace — that  the  God  of  Nature  is 
not  the  God  of  Grace — that  the  more  you 
study  the  Creator's  works,  the  farther  you 
remove  from  Him.  And,  to  be  consistent 
and  logical,  we  must  press  the  matter  to  its 
inevitable  conclusion  and  hold,  as  most  uncul- 
tured and  barbarous  nations  do;  viz;  That 
the  state  of  idiocy  brings  us  nearest  to  God. 
This  is  the  logic  of  Buddhism,  losing  self  in 
Nirvana;  and  its  twin  sister,  Christian 
Science,  of  our  day. 

Some  of  St.  Paul's  expressions  are  quoted 
by  some  as  sanctioning  this  idea.  He  tells 
his  converts  to  beware  *1est  any  man  spoil 
you  through  philosophy."  Whereupon  they 
take  for  granted  that  modern  philosophy  is 
the  enemy  of  Christianity.  This  is  one 
instance  of  many  of  the  ways  in  which  an 
ambiguous  word  misunderstood  becomes  the 
source  of  great  error.  And  this  error  has 
crept  into  that  otherwise  most  excellent 
series  of  pamphlets  under  the  title  ''The 
Fundamentals"  in  an  article,  "Modern  Phil- 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  173 

osophy,"  by  Philip  Mauro,  Counsellor-at 
Law,  New  York  City.  Listen  to  St.  Paul. 
He  tells  Timothy  to  ''Beware  of  Profane  and 
old  wives'  fables."  He  speaks  of  "endless 
genealogies" — ''worship  of  angels" — "in- 
truding into  those  things  which  men  have 
not  seen."  This  was  the  philosophy  of  those 
days — a  system  of  wild  fancies  spun  out  of 
the  brain — something  that  has  kinship  to 
fortune-telling,  spiritualism,  demonolatry; 
but  as  different  from  philosophy  as  we  know 
it  in  our  day  as  any  two  things  can  be.  This 
the  author  of  "Modern  Philosophy"  does  not 
seem  to  realize.  We  should  also  know  that 
philosophy  has  become  Christian,  and  that 
science  has  knelt  to  lay  down  its  offerings  at 
the  altar  of  Jesus.  There  is  a  deep  signifi- 
cance in  that  search,  homage,  and  worship  of 
the  wise  men.  For  it  is  a  specimen  of  what 
science  has  often  done. 

In  a  former  chapter  attention  was  called 
to  the  fact  that  the  Greeks,  guided  by  Na- 
ture's Book,  came  to  the  very  gate  of  the 
kingdom.  The  truly  wise  men  of  every  age 
and  every  clime  seek,  and  by  a  little  help 
from  the  prophets,  find  Jesus.  All  the 
universe  tells  of  Christ.  The  stars  even  now 
preach  the  mind  of  Christ.  Not  as  of  old 
when  mysteriously  a  star  guided  their  feet 
to  Bethlehem,  but  to  the  mind  of  the  astron- 
omer they  now  tell  of  eternal  order  and 
harmony  and  changeless  law.    You  may  cal- 


174  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

culate  to  the  day  and  hour  and  minute  the 
star's  return.  Here  is  the  gospel  of  God's 
fidelity.  These  mute  masses  obey  the  law 
impressed  upon  them  by  their  Creator's 
hand,  and  that  law  is  the  law  of  their  own 
nature.  Kepler  said  **0  God,  we  think  thy 
thoughts  after  Thee!  To  understand  the 
laws  of  our  nature,  and  consciously  and 
reverently  to  obey  them, — that  is  the  mind 
of  Christ  and  the  sublimest  spirit  of  the 
Gospel.  But,  with  all  that,  it  was  only  a  star 
when  compared  with  the  great  luminary. 
Stars  may  lead  willing  hearts  to  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Christ  and  salvation,  but  the 
words  of  God's  chosen  prophets  must  be 
consulted  to  discover  its  exact  locality,  and 
to  disclose  all  its  fulness.  ''All  pure  arts 
and  useful  knowledge"  lead  Christward. 
Nature's  book  on  so  many  pages  tells  of  that 
which  is  heavenly  and  divine ;  and  needs  but 
a  translator  to  open  its  hidden  treasure  of 
law  and  harmony  and  love.  But  all  this 
world's  light  is  mere  starlight,  till  the 
records  of  Revelation  pour  forth  their  day- 
beams  and  give  us  certainties.  The  truly 
wise  men  are  never  so  wise  but  that  they 
can  learn  more  of  Christ  in  a  few  lines  from 
the  prophet  Micah  than  from  all  material 
sources. 

And  now  that  we  have  the  great  luminary 
why  shall  we  go  star-gazing  at  noon-day? 
It  would  be  folly  unbounckd  to  make  this 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  175 

cold,  dark  earth  the  center  of  the  universe, 
with  all  the  evidence  that  we  now  have  that 
the  sun  holds  that  unique  place  in  the 
system  of  the  worlds.  And,  living  in  the 
noon-day  of  grace,  when  the  Sun  of  Right- 
eousness has  reached  its  zenith  of  glory  and 
splendor,  it  would  be  greater  folly  still  to 
seek  religion  on  the  outer  rim  of  the  circle  ; 
that  is,  in  the  evidence  manifest  in  the  stars, 
the  strata  of  rock,  and  in  the  fauna  and  flora 
of  our  day,  instead  of  going  direct  to  the 
central  Son  from  which  radiates  all  true 
light— "The  Light  of  the  World." 

Many  young  men  suddenly  thrust  into  the 
critical  atmosphere  of  the  natural  sciences, 
become  dazed  for  a  time;  and,  not  assisted 
in  the  readjustment  of  methods,  they  imag- 
ine that  they  have  lost  faith.  They  have  not 
lost  faith.  Their  only  trouble  is  that  they 
have  not  learned  that  the  method  of  faith 
is  the  method  of  all  other  knowledge. 

The  end  of  all  true  philosophy  is  to  learn 
that  we  must  believe;  and  science  confirms 
this.  Some  years  ago.  Prof.  Marsh,  Pres- 
ident of  the  American  Association  for  the 
Advancement  of  Science,  in  an  able  address 
before  that  body,  made  an  appeal  for  faith, 
stating  that  thus  the  mystery  of  life  might 
eventually  be  solved.  And  here  we  should 
realize  that  all  progress  is  by  this  method 
of  faith ;  whether  it  pertains  to  things  polit- 
ical, social,  religous,  or  scientific.    The  man 


176  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

of  science  begins  with  what  he  believes  to 
be  a  verity — an  idea — an  hypothesis.  He 
verifies  it  according  to  its  domain — in 
astronomy  by  mathematics — in  chemistry 
by  retort  and  blowpipe. 

Astronomy,  previous  to  this  inductive 
method  in  its  application  to  what  are  known 
now  as  Kepler's  laws  and  the  Newtonion 
hypothesis  of  gravitation,  was  in  a  state  of 
chaos,  and  its  votaries  were  hopelessly 
divided  by  conflicting  theories.  This  is 
equally  true  when  applied  to  chemistry  and 
all  the  other  branches  of  learning.  But  the 
advent  of  the  inductive  method,  beginning 
with  an  idea,  an  hypothesis,  has  ushered  in 
every  golden  age  of  achievement — it  has 
given  the  human  race  astronomy  for  astrol- 
ogy; chemistry  for  alchemy;  freedom  for 
serfdom ;  commerce  for  piracy ;  missions  for 
monasticism ;  medicine  for  magic ;  and  reli- 
gion for  superstition. 

This  inductive  or  faith  method  has  given 
us  the  modern  view  of  physics  which 
destroys  the  old  naturalism,  for  it  shows 
that  the  atom  has  structure  and  that  its 
component  parts  are  probably  electrical  in 
character.  Of  electricity  itself  the  physicist 
has  no  knowledge  other  than  what  electric- 
ity VN^ill  do,  and,  inasmuch  as  electricity  can 
not  be  directly  perceived  by  our  senses,  all 
this  information  has  come  to  him  through 
the  agency  of  matter.     Electricity  is  truly 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  177 

invisible.    The  everyday  laboratory  faith  of 
the  physicist  is  now  not  in  visible  material 
as  formerly  understood,  but  in  the  invisible 
thing  we  call  "electricity."     He  has   repu- 
diated the  atom  as  a  unit,  observing  in  it  a 
wonderful  and  complex  system  of  unending 
interest  and  great  experimental  possibilities, 
and  has  accepted  the  atom  of  electricity  as 
the  basis  for  his  scientific  belief.    This  new 
conception  of  science  should  remove  from 
the  minds  of  the  people  that  depressing  in- 
fluence  upon   religious  thought   which  has 
accompanied   the    extension   of   the   known 
domain  of  physical  law.     For  now  we  see 
more    clearly   that   the    explanation   of   the 
material  world  about  us  can  be  written  only 
in  the  terms  of  the  invisible.    The  reality  of 
matter,  as  formerly  conceived,  is  now  aban- 
doned, and  the  invisible  becomes  the  every- 
day reality  of  the  scientific  laboratory.    This 
does  not  lead  to  the  formation  of  a  new  re- 
ligious faith,  but  the  exclusion  of  the  hinder- 
ing influence  of  the  old  naturalism.       The 
new    naturalism    cannot    exclude    God,    for 
there  is  as  much  opportunity  for  him  in  the 
complex   system   called  the   atom   as   there 
used   to   seem   to   be   in   the   solar   system. 
Indeed,  the  atom  of  electricity,  which  is  but 
a  minute  portion  of  the  atom,  must  be  itself 
divisible.     One  familiar  with  physics  thinks 
at  once   of  the   possibility   of  the   electron 
"being  merely  a  manifestation  of  that  mys- 


178  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

terious  hypothetical  medium  termed  *'the 
ether."  At  the  present  time  the  problems 
of  the  ether  are  the  most  perplexing  and 
fundamental,  undoubtedly  perplexing 
because  fundamental.  The  only  cognizance 
we  have  of  the  ether  is  due  to  the  action  of 
electricity.  It  would  therefore  seem  reason- 
able for  us  to  consider  the  atom  of  electricity 
to  be  produced  by  the  ether,  and  if  this  be 
accepted,  the  description  of  the  whole  realm 
of  matter  in  terms  of  the  medium,  the  ether, 
becomes  possible.  The  tenableness  of  this 
attitude  on  the  part  of  the  physicist 
strengthens  the  tendency  to  interpret  all  in 
terms  of  the  unseen,  the  immanent  mind, 
God.  Indeed,  the  modern  conception  of  the 
immanence  of  God  finds  splendid  reenforce- 
ment  in  the  view  of  modern  physics. 

The  shifting  of  the  scientific  faith  of  the 
physicist  from  the  atom  to  the  electron  gives 
us  a  clearer  view  of  the  unending  search  for 
the  ultimate  unit.  The  wonder  and  com- 
plexity of  the  atom  gives  us  a  greater  con- 
fidence in  the  immanence  of  God  and  builds 
for  us  a  vision  which  makes  clearer  than 
ever  the  Gospel  in  Nature  so  aptly  expressed 
by  Lodge : 

'*We  are  deaf  and  blind,  therefor,  to  the 
immanent  grandeur  around  us,  unless  we 
have  insight  enough  to  appreciate  the  whole, 
and  to  recognize  in  the  woven  fabric  of  ex- 
istence, flowing  steadily  from  the  loom  in 


AND  THE  BIBLi:  OF  GRACE  179 

an  infinite  progress  toward  perfection,  the 
ever  growing  garment  of  a  transcendent 
God." 

The  fact  that  the  literal  correctness  of  a 
given  hypothesis  is  not  demonstrable,  except 
by  results,  in  no  wise  militates  against  its 
value  in  the  domain  to  which  it  belongs.    In 
fact,  it  would  cease  to  be  an  hypothesis  the 
moment  it  were  demonstrated.     Gravitation 
is    undemonstrable     except     from     results. 
Kepler's  Principia  is  undemonstrable  except 
from  results.     You  cannot  prove  that  they 
are  correct,  only  as  you  put  them  to  the  test. 
And  yet  no  one  would  hesitate  to  depend  on 
them  in  the  most  important  concerns  of  life 
— nay,    to    stake    his    very    existence    upon 
conclusions     based     upon     such    well-tried 
theories — in  other  words,  upon  the  conclu- 
sions of  faith.   I  say  faith,  for  the  reason  that 
all  science  is  built  on  the  hidden  and  the 
unseen,  just  as  truly  as  is  religion.    In  as- 
certaining the  essential  reality  of  all  that  is 
perceived  by  the  senses,  science  goes  behind 
all  that  which  men  commonly  have  in  mind 
when  they  think  of  the  material,  to  the  real- 
ity which  cannot  be  perceived  by  the  senses ; 
or,  as  Kant  called  it,  ''the  thing  in  itself." 
In    so   doing   they   find   the    essential,    but 
hidden  reality.     As  the  essential  reality  of 
material  they  find  atoms ;  of  sound,  undula- 
tions of  air;  of  heat;  light  and  electricity, 
vibrations  of  an  all-pervading  ether.     But 


180  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

who  ever  saw  an  atom?  Who  ever  saw, 
heard,  touched,  or  tasted  that  mysterious 
something  we  call  ether,  "a  medium  which 
fills  the  universe  and  penetrates  all  bodies?" 
Who,  I  ask,  with  micrscope,  or  telescope,  or 
spectroscope,  has  ever  seen  the  links  of  the 
mighty  chains  of  gravitation  stretching 
across  the  desert  space  and  binding  to- 
gether suns  and  stars  and  systems? 
So,  then,  the  essential  realty  of  the 
tangible  is  the  intangible ;  of  the 
audible  is  the  inaudible ;  of  the  visible 
is  the  invisible ;  of  the  perceptible  is  the 
imperceptible.  Thus  science  puts  itself  on 
record  as  saying:  ''Back  of  all  these  visible 
and  tangible  and  audible  things  is  to  be 
found  the  thing  in  itself,  which  no  human 
eye  shall  ever  see ;"  and  this  is  scientific  con- 
firmation of  that  other  Book,  which  says: 
"We  look  not  at  the  things  which  are  seen, 
but  at  the  realities  which  are  unseen ;  but 
the  realities  unseen  are  eternal." 

So,  then,  the  method  of  the  man 
of  science  is  by  faith.  It  sounds  verily  like 
the  faith  chapter  in  Hebrews,  when  the 
scientist  testifies.  It  was  by  faith  that  Dal- 
ton  proposed  the  atomic  theory  and  thus 
explained  the  laws  of  definite  and  multiple 
proportions.  By  faith  LaPlace  proposed  the 
Nebular  Hypothesis  to  account  for  the  earth 
and  the  worlds  as  they  now  are.  By  faith 
Newton  discovered  the  law  of  gravitation, 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  181 

which  has  been  the  stepping-stone  to  such 
marvelous   discoveries  in   the  solar  system 
and  has  been  the  key  to  unlock  so  many 
hidden  things  in  nature.    By  faith  Lavoisier 
has  been  enabled  to  tell  us  of  the  conserva- 
tion of  matter  and  energy,  and  that  light, 
heat  and  electricity  are  but  modes  of  motion, 
which    cannot    be   destroyed,    but    may    be 
transformed.      It    was    faith    that    enabled 
Morse  and  Edison  to  make  us  live  in  a  new 
world  by  transforming  energy  and  harness- 
ing it  to  the  mill-wheel  and  the  factory  band. 
Back  of  all  that  is  visible  and  tangible,  we 
believe  there  is  the  atom,  ether,  and  gravita- 
tion,  though   we    have    never  heard,   seen, 
tasted,   or  touched   them.     The   chapter  in 
Hebrews    is    in     entire     accord    with     the 
methods  of  science  when  it  says :  ''Through 
faith  we  understand  that  the  worlds  were 
framed  by  the  word  of  God,  so  that  things 
which   are   seen   were   not  made   of   things 
which  do  not  appear." 

We  must  approach  the  Gospel  of  Grace 
by  the  same  method.  Here  is  a  life  to 
account  for— the  life  of  Jesus  so  marvelous, 
so  unique.  The  outward  facts  diflferentiate 
this  from  all  other  human  lives — born  of  a 
virgin,  a  sinless  life,  "love  so  amazing,  so 
divine."  (By  the  way.  Dr.  James  Orr  has 
written  a  wonderful  book  on  'The  Virgin 
Birth,"  to  which  I  beg  to  call  the  attention 
of  my  readers.) 


182  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

Another  unique  and  solitary  fact  in 
human  history  is  this  absolutely  sinless  man. 
In  his  birth  immaculate;  in  His  childhood, 
youth,  and  manhood  ;  in  public  and  private, 
in  death  and  in  life,  He  was  faultless. 
Listen  to  the  witnesses.  His  enemies  tes- 
tify. The  Pharisees  watched  Him.  I  quote 
again:  ''There  were  the  Pharisees,  mighty 
in  every  crowd,  hiding  behind  every  tree. 
They  examined  His  disciples,  they  cross- 
examined  all  around  Him.  They  looked 
into  His  ministerial  life;  into  His  domestic 
privacy,  and  His  hours  of  retirement.  They 
came  forward  with  the  sole  accusation  they 
could  muster — that  he  had  shown  disrespect 
unto  Ceasar.  The  Roman  judge,  who  ought 
to  know,  pronounced  it  void." 

There  was  another  spy,  Judas.  Had  there 
been  one  failure  in  the  Redeemer's  career, 
in  his  awful  agony,  Judas  would  have 
remembered  it  for  his  comfort ;  but  the  bit- 
terness of  his  despair,  that  which  made  his 
life  intolerable,  was,  *T  have  betrayed  the 
innocent  blood."  He  challenged  His  bit- 
terest enemies  to  convict  Him  of  sin.  The 
prayer  of  the  forgiveness  of  trespasses  which 
He  teaches  and  urges  upon  others.  He  needs 
not  for  Himself. 

The  testimony  of  His  friends  I  need  not 
recite.  His  life  was  like  a  ray  of  light, 
which,  parting  from  the  fountain  of  light, 
can  pass  through  the  foulest  medium  and 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  183 

Still  be  unstained  and  untouched?  Do  you 
want     an  ^  illustration     of     true     devotion. 
Behold   Him   whole  nights  in  prayer!   Do 
you  want  an   illustration  of  suffering?  See 
His  path  across  Palestine  tracked  in  blood ! 
Do  you  want  an  example  of  patience  ?    See 
Him    abused    and    maltreated    and    never 
offering  one  sharp  retort !    Do  you  want  an 
example  of  industry?    See  Him  without  one 
idle  moment !     Do  you  want  a  specimen  of 
sacrifice?    Look  at  His  life  of  suffering,  His 
ignominy   and   death,   His   sepulchre  of  hu- 
miliation!    What    an     example!     His     feet 
wounded,  yet  He  submitted  to  the  journey ! 
His  back  lacerated,  yet  He  carried  the  cross ! 
With  wounds  in  His  hands  and  wounds  in 
His  feet  and  wounds  in  His  side  and  wounds 
on  His  brow,  He  cried  out  ''Father,  forgive 
them,   for  they   know   not   what   they   do." 
This  is  *'love  so  amazing,  so  divine." 

All  honest  men  must  account  for  these 
facts ;  and,  by  the  same  method  of  induction 
as  that  used  by  the  man  of  science,  we 
arrive  at  the  deeper  hidden  idea,  the  Logos. 
Truly  this  was  a  righteous  man — the 
Messiah  that  should  come  into  the  world. 
And  the  more  you  observe  the  facts,  the 
more  you  are  assured  of  this  verity. 

Still  another  word  regarding  method  as 
it  applies  to  the  individual  life  of  the  Chris- 
tian. It  is  no  discredit  to  a  child  to  believe 
in  the  things  of  life  and  religion,  what  his 


184  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

parents  and  teachers  tell  him,  but  it  is  to  his 
discredit  as  a  man  to  continue  to  believe 
these  things  purely  on  the  ground  of  priest- 
ly or  parental  testimony.  ''When  I  became  a 
man  I  put  away  childish  things."  Forbid 
that  I  should  say  anything  against  the 
creeds  of  the  church — those  grand  and  glori- 
ous testimonies  that  have  come  down  to  us 
from  our  fathers.  Creeds  are  testimonies 
witnessing  for  Christ.  If  the  tes- 
timony of  one  is  good,  the  testimony  of 
many  is  better.  But,  for  all  that,  we  dare 
not  mistake  the  creed  for  the  life  of  God  in 
the  soul.  When  we  become  men,  we  must 
put  our  religion  to  the  test — practice  it, 
test  it,  reaching  up  to  a  general  truth 
through  the  study  and  testing  of  a  large 
body  of  particulars — the  inductive  method — 
the  laboratory  method  with  retort  and  blow- 
pipe. You  may  call  that  pragmatism.  I  will 
call  it  practical  religion.  The  method  was 
recommended  by  our  Lord  when  he  said : 
''If  any  man  will  do  His  will  he  shall  know 
of  the  doctrine,  whether  it  be  of  God." 

There  is  a  significant  illustration  of  this 
very  fact  in  the  person  of  the  brilliant  Eng- 
lish scientist,  George  John  Romanes.  And 
there  are  many  who,  to  return  to  the  king- 
dom, like  him,  must  live  life  over  again.  He 
had  been  reared  under  strict  religious  in- 
fluences. His  religion  was  largely  of  the 
inherited     kind — parental     authority     kind; 


AM)  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  185 

and,  until  he  found  himself  inside  the 
university,  he  had  never  questioned  the 
validity  of  his  beliefs.  But  he  became  inter- 
ested in  the  then  new  doctrine  of  evolution. 
Not  able  to  reconcile  the  scientific  method 
with  his  inherited  religion,  he  forsook  his 
faith  with  bitterness  and  tears;  and,  as  did 
Voltaire,  he  wrote  a  book  which  was 
intended  to  shatter  the  foundations  of  re- 
ligion. Some  years  passed  by  and  by  chance 
there  fell  into  his  hands  a  little  volume  of 
science  describing  the  researches  of  a  foreign 
missionary  to  China  by  the  name  of  Gulick. 
This  little  book  reveals  an  intimate  knowl- 
edge of  nature.  Romanes  was  greatly 
surprised  at  its  contents,  and  wrote  to  the 
missionary,  asking  him  how  a  Christian  who 
believed  in  the  supernatural  could  make  so 
valuable  a  contribution  in  the  field  of  pure 
science.  Gulick  replied  to  the  sceptic  that, 
in  the  domain  of  faith,  he  applied  the  same 
method  as  in  the  field  of  science, — the  induc- 
tive method  both  in  religion  and  science. 
This  was  a  new  thought  to  Romanes.  He 
began  to  realize  that  he  had  started  at  the 
wrong  end.  He  determined  to  seek  God. 
He  began  by  looking  at  that  unique  will  and 
life  of  Jesus.  He  began  the  slow,  patient 
effort  of  living  that  life ;  and,  from  the  dark- 
ness and  the  damps  of  the  valley  of  unbelief, 
he  rose  to  the  uplands  of  clear  sunlight  and 
living  faith  in  a  personal  Redeemer.     His 


186  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

salvation  was  one  of  method — it  was  the 
gospel  of  Nature — and  may  it  not  be  the 
means  of  helping  many  others? 

Look  at  the  miraculous  in  nature !  And 
now  a  word  concerning  the  miraculous  in 
the  Book  of  Grace.  When  the  Lord  gave 
sight  and  speech  and  hearing  to  one 
possessed  with  a  devil,  the  sceptics,  unable 
to  deny  or  discredit  the  fact,  immediately 
attempted  to  explain  it  in  such  a  way  as  to 
obviate  the  conclusion  that  *'no  man  can  do 
such  things  except  he  be  from  God."  And 
so  they  attributed  the  m.iracle  to  the  prince 
of  devils. 

How  very  different  their  method  of  treat- 
ing this  subject  of  miracles  from  that 
adopted  by  unbelievers  in  our  day.  Modern 
sceptics  assert  that  there  were  no  miracles. 
However,  they  are  unanimous  in  this;  that, 
if  Christ  did  work  the  miracles,  the  inev- 
itable conclusion  would  be  that  He  was 
from  God.  The  great  masters  of  infidel 
logic  cannot  tell  how  to  get  away  from  the 
divinity  of  the  Gospel,  if  they  admit  the 
reality  of  miracles.  In  this  they  agree  with 
the  Christian.  And  so,  to  avoid  the  con- 
clusion, they  must  deny  the  premise. 

But  beyond  a  doubt,  the  ancient  infidels 
were  the  better  judges  of  that  which 
occurred  before  their  very  eyes.  The  tes- 
timony of  the  eye-witnesses  should  surely 
be  worth  more  than  any  modern  specula- 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  187 

tions  on  the  subject.  And,  if  there  had  been 
the  shadow  of  an  opportunity  for  them  to 
discredit  the  facts,  surely  they  would  have 
done  that  rather  than  seek  refuge  in  such 
an  absurd  theory.  His  enemies  understood 
Jesus  to  affirm  His  divinity  when  he  said, 
''Before  Abraham  was,  I  am."  Taking-  the 
eye-witnesses  as  the  most  competent  judges 
of  the  facts,  and  our  modern  infidels  as  the 
best  judges  of  the  logic  of  the  case,  between 
the  two  (from  the  most  bitter  enemies  of 
Christianity,)  we  have  everything  we  need 
to  settle  unmistakably  the  Messiahship  of 
Jesus  and  the  divinity  of  His  religion. 

But  it  is  to  the  first  miracle  that  I  wish 
especially  to  direct  you.  Christ's  glory  did 
not  begin  with  the  miracle ;  the  miracle  only 
manifested  it.  During  all  the  years  while 
He  lived  on  earth,  the  same  glory  was  in 
Him.  It  was  no  more  divine  now  than  at 
any  other  time — no  more  divine  at  any  time 
than  it  was  when  in  obedience  to  His  mother 
and  in  love  to  his  brethren.  It  was  just  as 
divine  in  those  simple,  daily  acts  of  life,  as 
when  it  showed  itself  in  a  way  startling  and 
wonderful.  It  was  just  as  much  the  life  of 
God  on  earth  when  He  did  an  act  of  ordinary 
human  love  or  human  duty,  as  when  He  did 
that  which  was  extraordinary,  such  as  turn- 
ing water  into  wine. 

Grod  was  just  truly  in  the  daily  life  and 
love  of  Christ  as  He  was  in  His  miracles. 


188  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

The  miracles  only  made  that  hidden  glory 
visible.  The  extraordinary  only  proved  that 
the  ordinary  was  divine.  That  was  the 
very  object  of  the  miracle;  viz;  to  manifest 
His  glory.  And  if,  instead  of  quickening 
men  to  see  the  real  glory  ever  present  in 
Him,  the  miracle  only  fastened  men's  atten- 
tion on  itself,  then  the  whole  intention  of 
the  miracle  was  lost. 

The  gospel  of  nature  will  illustrate  this. 
If  you  have  ever  thought  on  this  matter, 
you  are  aware  that  the  lightning  only  man- 
ifests the  electric  force  which  is  everywhere, 
and  but  for  a  moment  has  become  visible.' 
As  often  as  we  see  it,  it  reminds  us  that  the 
lightning  slumbers  invisibly  in  the  dewdrop, 
the  cloud,  and  the  mist,  and  binds  together 
every  atom  of  water  that  we  use  in  daily 
life.       But    to     the    unthinking    worldling, 
lightning  is  something  unique  and  does  not 
exist   unless  it   appears.     To   him   there   is 
wonderful    glory    in    the    lightning's    flash, 
because  he  sees  it ;  but  none  in  the  dewdrop, 
simply  because  he  does  not  see  it.    And  so, 
to  the  half-believer,  a  miracle  is  the   only 
evidence    of    God.      But    to    a    believer,    a 
miracle  only  manifests  the  love  and  power 
which    are    silently    working    everywhere — 
shown  just  as  truly  in  the  slow  work  of  the 
Epileptic  Home  and  the  cure  for  the  insane, 
as  in  the  sudden  giving  of  speech  and  hear- 
ing to  the  one  possessed  with  a  devil — as 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  189 

truly  divine  in  the  gift  of  daily  bread,  as  in 
the  miraculous  increase  of  the  loaves  and 
fishes.  God's  power  is  at  work  not  only  in 
the  growth  of  the  vine  and  the  ripening  of 
the  grapes,  but  just  as  truly  in  the  fermenta- 
tion of  the  grape-juice  as  it  passes  into  wine. 
It  is  not  more  glory,  but  glory  more  man- 
ifest when  water  is  commanded  to  pass 
immediately  into  wine. 

And  so  even  what  we  consider  oft-times 
the  ills  of  life,  have  their  mission  for  good  if 
only  we  could  read  aright.  Concerning  the 
man  born  blind,  Jesus  was  asked,  ''Who 
sinned,  this  man  or  his  parents?"  Jesus 
answered,  "Neither  this  man  nor  his  parents, 
but  that  the  works  of  God  might  be  made 
manifest."  If  we  study  aright  the  Gospel 
of  Nature,  then  every  tree  and  shrub  will 
become  to  us  a  burning  bush  from  which  we 
may  hear  the  voice  of  God  lovingly  speak 
to  us. 

"Flower  in  the  crannied  wall, 

I  pluck  you  out  of  the  crannies : — 

Hold  you  here,  root  and  all,  in  my  hand. 
Little  flower — but  if  I  could  understand 
and  know 

What  you  are,  root  and  all,  and  all  in  all 
I  should  know  what  God  and  man  is." 

And  be  sure  of  this  one  thing,  that  if  you 
do    not    recognize    God's    presence    in    the 


190  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

annual  miracle  of  harvest,  and  God's  pres- 
ence in  the  vintage  of  every  year,  then  you 
will  not  be  convinced  by  the  miraculous.  "If 
you  hear  not  Moses  and  the  prophets 
neither  v^^ill  you  be  persuaded  though  one 
rose  from  the  dead."  Miracles  have  only 
done  their  work  when  they  teach  us  the 
glory  and  the  wonders  that  surround  our 
common  life^ — when  they  teach  us  to  read 
the  gospel  in  nature,  and  when  they  teach 
us  the  many  lessons  we  may  learn  from 
nature's  pages  if  only  we  can  read  aright. 

In  a  little  booklet  entitled,  "A  Scientific 
Confession  of  Faith,"  Emily  Lovira  Gregory, 
Ph.  D;  the  author,  says  of  her  German 
materialistic  professor  at  Zurich,  that  in 
speaking  of  the  mystery  that  inheres  in  the 
simple  drop  of  protoplasm,  which  is  the 
germ  from  which  the  plant  springs,  he  was 
accustomed,  in  his  dignified  way,  often  to 
say:  'Ich  biege  mich  vor  dem  Geheimniss," 
"I  bow  myself  before  the  mystery" — ^before 
the  mystery,  that  is,  enshrined  in  the  tiny 
drop,  of  protoplasm.  Though  the  savant 
cannot  explain  the  mystery,  he  admits  the 
fact. 

So  also  there  are  mysterious  facts  in  the 
life  of  Jesus  which  we  designate  as  miracles. 
No  one  pretends  to  understand  and  explain 
them.  They  are  mysterious  facts.  Concern- 
ing the  conception,  the  nativity,  and  the 
incarnation;    the    changing    of    water    into 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  191 

wine,  the  feeding  of  the  five  thousand,  and 
the  calling  of  Lazarus  from  the  dead.  I  will 
say  as  the  German  Savant  says  with  ref- 
erence to  the  mysterious  fact  of  ordered 
potentiality  resident  in  the  simple  drop  of 
protoplasm;  "I  bow  myself  before  the 
mystery."  Here  again  there  is  kinship  in 
the  Book  of  Nature  and  the  Book  of  Grace. 
But  from  this  mystery  there  goes  forth 
from  both  books  the  glad  message  in  the 
phenomena  so  eagerly  read  by  the  men  of 
science  and  by  the  followers  of  Christ.  With 
this  knowledge  as  a  starting  point,  how  easily 
all  other  questions  are  met  and  answered! 
Then  all  will  blossom  as  the  rose. 

Why  not  look  upon  a  miracle  as  that 
which  it  professes  to  be,  and  apart  from 
which  it  would  be  no  miracle — as  something 
happening  outside  the  laws  of  nature  so  far 
as  we  know  them,  whether  it  be  an  occur- 
rence in  obedience  to  higher  laws  or  whether 
it  be  an  arbitrary  and  supernatural  interven- 
tion of  God.  From  this  simple  position  with 
regard  to  a  miracle,  and  this  definition  which 
is  contained  in  the  word  of  God  itself,  two 
things  follow :  First,  the  absurdity  of  deny- 
ing it.  For,  to  maintain  that  no  miracle 
has  ever  taken  place,  that  such  a  thing  is 
impossible,  is  to  maintain  that  we  know  all 
the  forces  and  laws  and  possibilities  in  the 
universe!  We  see  what  a  foolish  proposition 
that  is.     "It  is  the  presumption  of  human 


192  THE   BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

iterance  to  hold  that  a  thing  is  impossible, 
simply  because  it  seems  to  us  incomprehen- 
sible." (Mandsley.)  Science  never  has  been, 
and  never  will  be,  in  a  position  to  decide 
infallibly  what  can  and  what  cannot  be. 
Therefore,  the  possibility  of  a  miracle,  as 
something  apparently  incomprehensible,  is 
not  to  be  denied.  The  old  discussion  as  to 
vj^hether  it  resulted  from  a  direct  dispensa- 
tion of  God  or  from  the  operation  of 
-unknown  laws,  is  for  us  idle  and  unprofitable. 
What  we,  for  the  sake  of  brevity  and  con- 
venience, call  natural  forces,  are  in  reality  a 
continual  exercise  of  the  power  of  God,  as  in 
Revelations  IV:II,  the  heavenly  choir  sang, 
"Thou  hast  created  all  things,  and  for  thy 
pleasure  they  are,  and  were  created." 

The  second  result  that  follows  from  the 
above  definition  of  a  miracle  is  the  impos- 
sibility of  scientifically  disputing  it;  for  a 
miracle  is  entirely  outside  the  domain  of 
scientific  criticism.  This  was  acknowledged 
by  Tyndall  (so  much  revered  by  scientists,) 
who  was  by  no  means  a  believer  in  the  Bible, 
yet  admitted  that  if  there  is  a  God  He  is 
Almighty,  and  therefore  can  work  miracles; 
and  that  miracles  have  nothing  to  do  with 
science,  but  lie  outside  her  province.  We 
would  recommend  this  utterance  of  a  man 
of  rank  to  those  of  no  rank,  but  who  delight 
in  confronting  miracle  with  science — a  proc- 
ess much  like  shooting  at  the  sun  with  a 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  193 

revolver,  and  thinking  if  only  the  weapon 
were  more  powerful  we  should  hit  it.  The 
very  essence  of  a  miracle  is  its  intangibility 
by  proofs  and  reasoning,  its  incomprehen- 
sibility, and  its  incapability  of  being  proved. 
He  who  tries  to  explain  it  shows  that  he  does 
not  know  what  a  miracle  is,  and  in  his 
attempt  only  succeeds  in  making  a  fool  of 
himself,  both  from  the  scientific  and  the 
Christian  point  of  view.  He  who  allows  his 
belief  in  miracles  to  be  reasoned  away,  or 
even  shaken  by  professedly  scientific  argu- 
ments, is,  to  say  the  least,  sadly  lacking  in 
perspicuity,  and  would  do  well  to  test  His 
conception  of  an  Almighty  God  and  find  out 
what  he  really  does  believe.  He  who  does 
not  believe  in  miracles,  does  not  believe  in 
God,  even  though  he  believes  that  he  be- 
lieves in  Him ;  that  is  to  say,  he  is  mentally 
too  weak  to  grasp  both.  In  all  times,  small 
natures  have  been  inclined  to  ridicule  the 
idea  of  a  miracle,  just  because  it  goes  be- 
yond their  horizon,  while  in  all  ages  and 
nations  there  have  been  great,  deep- 
thinking,  and  clear-sighted  men  who  have 
believed  it. 

The  Book  of  Nature,  as  well  as  the  Book 
of  Grace,  teaches  us  to  believe  in  the  super- 
natural. The  child  and  the  sage  alike  live 
in  a  world  largely  made  up  of  the  super- 
natural element,  and  the  latter  sees  even 
more  wonderful  things  than  the  former.    It 


194  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

is,  however,  easier  to  believe  in  the 
supernatural  in  general  than  in  the  miracles 
of  the  Bible,  for  between  the  two  lies  the 
great  difference  between  theory  and  prac- 
tice. This  accounts  for  the  fact  that  many 
people  who  have  no  difficulty  in  believing 
that  long  ages  ago  God  created  the  world, 
would  think  it  very  strange  if  they  were 
told  that  God  has  this  morning  created  a 
grain  of  sand.  And  others  who  grant  the 
existence  of  a  Supreme  Being  somewhere 
far  off,  would  smile  if  I  told  them  that  this 
morning  He  had  answered  my  prayer.  They 
can  put  up  with  the  supernatural;  that 
belongs  to  philosophy,  almost  to  science. 
But  to  believe  in  miracles !  Think  of  all  it 
means !  Think  of  all  it  leads  to ! 

Men  cannot  get  away  from  miracles;  even 
the  materialists  believe  in  them.  Not  in 
those,  it  is  true,  which  happened  nearly 
nineteen  hundred  years  ago,  and  to  which 
many  trustworthy  men  are  witness;  but  in 
such  as  happened  millions  of  years  ago, 
which  were  observed  by  none  who  could 
testify  to  their  genuineness.  That  he  may 
not  be  obliged  to  believe  in  the  miracle  of 
creation  he  believes  in  an  improved  spon- 
taneous generation  or  imports  at  great 
expense  life-germs  from  other  worlds.  That 
Christ  raised  the  dead,  made  an  organism 
which  had  lived,  live  again,  he  does  not 
believe ;  but  he  does  believe  that  organisms 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  195 

were  generated  by  dead  matter.  That  God 
for  a  special  purpose  endowed  an  ass  with 
speech,  that  it  spoke  certain  words,  is  too 
absurd  to  believe ;  but  that  an  ape,  without 
knowing  why,  gradually  began  to  talk,  and 
that  all  the  asses  in  the  world  will  one  day 
speak,  is,  or  ought  to  be,  seriously  believed 
by  those  who  hold  the  doctrine  of  evolution. 
That  God,  the  creator  of  fire  and  of  men, 
should  have  made  three  men  fireproof  for 
a  few  minutes,  seems  to  them  a  ridiculous 
legend;  but  they  believe  that  organized 
germs  existed  for  millions  of  years  in  the 
glowing  cosmic  gas  and  in  molten  granites. 
Even  Tyndall  believes  that  all  life-germs, 
the  inventive  faculty,  reason,  and  the  will, 
in  all  their  manifestations  were  once  *'latent 
in  a  fiery  cloud !"  If  that  is  not  a  miracle, 
what  is  it?  Truth  is  a  mighty  weapon, 
whether  you  find  it  in  the  Book  of  Nature 
or  in  the  Book  of  Grace.  It  drives  men  to 
believe  in  the  miraculous  even  though  the 
facts  are  accounted  for  by  such  an  absurd 
statement  as  that  a  God  cast  out  devils 
through  the  prince  of  devils.  When  you 
accept  miracles  as  truth,  there  is  harmony. 
When  you  deny  them,  you  are  caught  on 
the  horns  of  a  dilemna. 

The  Bible  of  Grace  is  full  of  nature— the 
New  Testament  as  well  as  the  Old.  Paul 
is  preaching  the  gospel  from  the  Book  of 
Nature  when  he  declares,  "to  all  that  be  in 


196  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

Rome,"  beloved  of  God,  that  ''that  which 
may  be  known  of  God  is  manifest  in  them; 
for  God  hath  shown  it  unto  them ;  for  the 
invisible  things  of  Him  from  the  creation  of 
the  world  are  clearly  seen,  being  understood 
by  the  things  that  are  made."  Rom.  1:19, 
20.  To  the  pagan  Athenians  he  said  that 
"in  God  we  live  and  move  and  have  our 
being,"  and  gave  their  own  poets  credit  for 
having  read  this  gospel  from  the  Book  of 
Nature.  It  seems  to  me  unnecessary  to 
dwell  on  this,  beyond  that  of  pointing  out 
the  mere  fact  that  it  was  our  Lord's  meth- 
od invariably  to  teach  by  parables,  which  is 
only  another  way  of  saying  that  He  pointed 
them  to  the  great  Book  of  Nature,  which 
was  constantly  before  their  eyes  and  making 
things  of  the  kingdom  otherwise  hid  from 
them  would  be  manifest. 

The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto  a  net 
that  is  cast  into  the  sea;  like  unto  a  house- 
holder; like  a  treasure  hid  in  a  field;  like 
a  grain  of  mustard  seed ;  like  a  merchant 
seeking  goodly  pearls. 

When  we  learn  a  science,  such  as  geom- 
etry, algebra,  astronomy  or  botany,  our 
intelligence  does  nothing  but  recognize  and 
contemplate  the  presented  truths.  These 
truths  existed  just  as  truly  before  we  recog- 
nized them ;  but  they  were  not  truths  for 
us  until  we  personally  became  sensible  of 
them.       When     the     laws     governing     the 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  197 

heavenly  bodies  became  sensible  to  Kepler, 
then  in  ecstasy  he  cried  out,  "O  God,  we 
read  Thy  thoughts  after  Thee !"  And 
almost  as  soon  as  we  recognize  the  fact  that 
they  are  thoughts  for  us  at  this  end,  we  also 
recognize  that  they  must  have  been 
thoughts  at  the  other  end.  Thus,  if  order, 
harmony,  beauty  and  intelligence  are  recog- 
nized in  nature — come  out  of  nature — they 
must  somehow  have  been  potentially  in  it. 
And  if  there  is  logos  at  the  end,  we  may 
be  sure  that  there  was  also  logos  at  the 
beginning. 

When  the  five  or  six-year-old  child  of  the 
Scottish  philosopher,  Beattie,  was  begin- 
ning to  read — a  child  to  whom  the  father 
had  not  as  yet  sought  opportunity  to  talk  of 
God — an  opportunity  to  find  entrance  into 
his  mind  for  this  great  idea  in  a  manner 
suitable  to  his  age,  the  father  thought  of  the 
following  expedient.  In  a  corner  of  a  little 
garden,  without  telling  anyone  of  it,  he  drew 
with  his  finger  on  the  earth  the  three  initial 
letters  of  his  child's  name;  and  sowing 
garden  cresses  in  the  furrows,  covered  the 
seeds  and  smoothed  the  earth.  He  tells 
us :  "Ten  days  after,  the  child  came  running 
to  me,  all  amazed,  and  told  me  that  his  name 
had  grown  in  the  garden.  I  smiled  at  these 
words,  and  appeared  not  to  attach  much 
importance  to  what  he  had  said.  But  he 
insisted  on  taking  me  to  see  what  had  hap- 


198  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

pened.  "Yes,"  said  I,  on  coming  to  the 
place,  "I  see  well  enough  that  it  is  so;  but 
there  is  nothing  wonderful  in  this — it  is  a 
mere  accident,"  and  I  went  away.  But  he 
followed  me;  and,  walking  beside  me,  he 
said  very  seriously:  ''That  cannot  be  an 
accident.  Some  one  must  have  placed  the 
seeds  to  produce  this  result."  *'You  think, 
then,"  said  I  to  him,  "that  what  here  appears 
as  regular  as  the  letters  of  your  name,  can- 
not be  produced  by  chance?"  "Yes,"  said 
he  firmly,  "I  think  so."  "Well,  then,  look 
at  yourself,  consider  your  hands  and  fingers, 
your  legs  and  feet,  and  all  your  members, 
and  do  they  not  seem  to  you  regular  in 
their  appearance  and  useful  in  their  service? 
Doubtless  they  do.  Can  they  then  be  the 
result  of  chance?"  "No,"  replied  he,  "that 
cannot  be ;  someone  must  have  made  them 
for  me."  "And  who  is  the  someone?"  I 
asked  him.  He  replied  that  he  did  not 
know.  I  then  made  known  to  him  the  name 
of  the  great  Being  who  made  all  the  world ; 
and  regarding  his  name,  I  gave  him  all  the 
instruction  that  could  be  adapted  to  his  age. 
The  lesson  struck  him  profoundly,  and  he 
has  never  forgotten  it  or  the  circumstances 
that  was  the  occasion  of  it!" 

And  so  it  is  true  in  all  the  universe  that, 
w^herever  there  is  thought,  beauty  and  order 
at  the  end,  we  know  that  it  was  at  the  be- 
ginning.    When   we  know  what  is  at  the 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  199 

end,  we  know  what  was  at  the  beginning. 
If  we  see  the  marks  of  a  loving  father's 
hand  at  the  end,  we  know  that  a  loving 
father's  hand  was  at  the  beginning.  It  is 
nature  revealing  itself 

Though  a  subject  so  commonplace,  it 
seems  to  me  that  this  chapter  would  be  in- 
complete without  a  reference  to  the  fact  that 
springtime  and  flowers  mean  resurrection. 
Some  branches  of  learning  you  may  study 
at  your  option.  But  the  Lord  commands 
you  to  "consider  the  lilies  of  the  field,  how 
they  grow." 

During  the  long  winter  months,  down  m 
the  dark,  damp    grave,    the  lily    bulb,  the 
crocus,   the    tulip,    the    hyacinth,    and  the 
dafify-down  dilly  were  sleeping,  as  it  Avere, 
"the   sleep   of   the   just."     Apparently    the 
floral    world    was    dead— had    disappeared 
from  off  the  face  of  the  nether-world.    If  we 
had  never  seen  a  springtime,  with  its  resur- 
rection of  glory,  then  the  resurrection  day 
itself  would  not  fill  us  with  greater  wonder 
and  admiration  than  the  first  days  of  sprmg, 
when  "the  winter  is  past,  the  rain  is  over 
and  gone,  the  flowers  appear  on  the  earth, 
the  time  of  the  singing  of  birds  is  come,  and 
the  voice  of  the  turtle-dove  is  heard  in  our 
land ;"  "when  the  fig  tree  putteth  forth  her 
green  figs,  and  the   vines  with  the  tender 
grape  gives  a  good  smell."    "How  are  the 
dead  raised  up?  and  wi^th  what  body  do  they 


200  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

come?"  some  ask.  What  a  foolish  question! 
Says  Paul :  'That  which  thou  sowest  is  not 
quickened  except  it  die;  and  that  which 
thou  sowest,  thou  sowest  not  that  body  that 
shall  be,  but  bare  grain,  it  may  chance  of 
wheat  or  some  other  gram;  but  God  giveth 
it  a  body  as  it  hath  pleased  Him,  and  to 
every  seed  his  own  body."  Paul  means  to 
say  that  the  book  of  nature  tells  the  story — 
the  life-history  of  the  individual.  If  we  ac- 
cept the  one  revelation,  we  are  morally 
bound  to  accept  the  other.  It  is  scientific 
confirmation  of  the  Gospel  of  Grace.  A 
shrivelled  grain  of  wheat  is  buried  in  the 
ground.  There  it  dies,  and  the  farinaceous 
part  of  it  decays  and  forms  a  peculiarly  fine 
soil,  into  which  the  life-germ  strikes  itself, 
and  upon  which  the  life-germ  feeds.  The 
seed  itself  dies  with  the  exception  of  a  par- 
ticle too  small  to  be  seen  with  the  naked 
eye.  Soon  we  see  a  green  blade  springing 
up.  That  swells,  grows  and  increases  until 
it  comes  to  be  the  full  corn  in  the  ear.  No 
one  has  any  suspicion  but  that  the  same 
wheat  arises  from  the  soil  into  which  it  was 
cast.  Put  into  the  earth,  we  believe  that  it 
springs  up,  and  we  are  accustomed  to  talk 
of  it  in  our  ordinary  language  as  being  the 
very  seed  that  was  sown,  although  the  dif- 
ference is  striking  and  marvelous.  Now  you 
have  a  plant  about  three  feet  high,  bearing 
many  grains  of  wheat,  which  the  other  day 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  301 

was  an  insignificant  shrivelled  grain ;  yet  no 
one  doubts  that  the  two  are  the  same. 

So  shall  it  be  in  the  resurrection  of  the 
dead.  The  body  is  here  like  a  shrivelled 
grain — there  is  no  beauty  in  it  that  we 
should  admire  it.  It  is  put  into  the  grave, 
like  wheat  that  is  sown  in  the  earth ;  there 
it  decays;  ("earth  to  earth,  ashes  to  ashes, 
dust  to  dust,")  but  God  preserves  within  it 
mysteriously  a  sort  of  life-germ  which  is 
immortal,  and  when  the  trumpet  of  the 
archangel  shall  shake  the  heavens  and  the 
earth,  it  shall  expand  to  the  full  flower  of 
manhood — far  more  glorious — a  glorified 
body. 

"Wouldst  learn  to  know  one  little  flower, 

Its  perfume,  perfect  form  and  hue? 
Yes,  wouldst  thou  have  one  perfect  hour 

Of  all  the  years  that  come  to  you? 
Then  grow  as  God  hath  planted,  grow 

A  lordly  oak  or  daisy  low. 
As  He  hath  set  His  garden;  be 

Just  what  thou  art,  or  grass  or  tree ; 
Thy  treasures  up  in  heaven  laid 

Await  thee  sure,  ascending  soul. 
Life  after  life — be  not  afraid." 

Joaquin  Miller. 


203  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 


CHAPTER  IX. 
Conclusion. 

(a.)    The    Alleged     Controversy     Between 
Science  and  Religion. 

The  alleged  Antagonism  of  Theology  to 
the  Progress  of  Science  is,  we  believe,  very 
much  exaggerated.  The  great  majority  of 
the  men  whose  names  are  memorable  in  the 
history  of  science  and  who  have  contributed 
most  to  its  advancement  were  men  of  faith 
— monotheists — men  who  devoutly  and 
reverently  believed  in  the  God  of  the  Chris- 
tian's Bible  and  not  in  the  gods  of  the 
heathen.  Even  the  Greek  philosophers, 
Plato  and  x\ristotle,  were  not  materialists, 
but  metaphysicians ;  they  believed  in  re- 
ligion and  attained  more  clearly  to  mono- 
theism than  to  polytheism.  When  we  think 
of  the  scientific  achievements  of  the  Arabs 
in  the  Middle  Ages,  let  us  remember  that 
they  believed  in  one  God.  And  when  we 
think  of  the  Renaissance  of  the  Revival  of 
Learning,  let  us  not  forget  that  it  was  de- 
veloped by  Christian  civilization,  while  the 
partial  civilization,  of  Mahomet  declined 
and  fell. 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  203 

As  regards  the  charge  of  Dr.  Draper  in 
his  ''Conflict  between  Religion  and  Sci- 
ence," that  the  Catholic  church  is  responsi- 
ble for  the  condition  of  Europe  from  the 
fourth  to  the  sixteenth  century,  Dr.  Samuel 
Harris  correctly  says :  "Certainly  an  author 
is  destitute  of  the  historical  spirit  and  utter- 
ly incompetent  to  write  history,  hvho  can 
make  so  amazng  a  generalization  and  ac- 
count for  the  course  of  events  during  all 
those  centuries  by  a  single  cause."  It  is 
like  saying  that  intemperance  is  the  only 
sin  in  the  world. 

It  is  true  that  Roman  Catholicism,  with 
Christianity  left  out,  does  hold  principles 
incompatible  with  freedom  of  thought.  This 
the  Encyclical  of  Pope  Pius  IX.  indicates 
clearly.  But  the  institution  of  Roman  Cath- 
olicism is  so  far  away  from  the  spirit,  doc- 
trine, and  life  of  Jesus  and  the  primitive 
church,  that  it  seems  to  me  far  from  fair  to 
lay  its  faults  at  the  door  of  the  Christian 
church.  The  Protestant  Reformation  was 
the  true  development  of  Christianity,  reas- 
serting its  primitive  and  essential  spirit  and 
truth,  and  re-establishing  freedom  of 
thought  and  speech,  by  which  very  freedom 
Rome  itself  has  been  benefited.  Dr.  Draper 
seems  entirely  unconscious  of  the  fact  that 
he,  a  Unitarian,  furnishes  a  striking 
example  of  extremes  meeting,  when  he 
cites   Romanism   as   his   conception  of  the 


204  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

church  as  an  outward  visible  institution,  and 
thus  confounds  the  errors  thereof  with 
Christianity.  As  a  matter  of  fact  that  in- 
stitution which  Dr.  Draper  calls  the  church 
and  stigmatizes  as  the  one  cause  of  the  evil 
conditions  of  the  Middle  Ages,  did  often 
stand  in  the  way  of  science  and  progress. 
And  yet  in  so  far  as  it  did  so  it  is  void  of  the 
pure  teaching  of  God's  word  and  the  right 
administration  of  the  sacraments,  and  in  so 
far  as  its  life  is  not  in  accord  with  the  Iffe 
of  Christ  and  with  a  true  and  living  faith 
in  Him,  it  is  not  the  church  at  all;  it  is  a 
monster,  anti-Christian  and  contrary  to  the 
church  which  lived  invisible  during  those 
dark  days.  This  true  church  all  honest  men 
must  admit  was  the  very  means  most  ef- 
fective in  resisting  the  man-made  institution 
of  Romanism  (so  powerful  in  its  worldli- 
ness)  and  in  bringing  out  of  it  at  last  the 
Revival  of  learning  and  the  Reformation  of 
religion. 

When  Lord  Lindsay  was  in  Egypt,  wan- 
dering amid  the  pyramids,  and  seeking  out 
the  mysteries  of  the  tombs,  he  discovered  a 
mummy,  afterwards  ascertained  to  be  two 
thousand  years  old.  Unwrapping  it,  he 
found  in  its  closed  hand  a  bulbous  root, 
which  he  carried  home  and  planted  where 
it  might  have  the  warm  sunshine  and  the 
rain.  To  his  surprise  and  astonishment  it 
SDrouted  and  budded  and  blossomed  into  a 


AXD  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  205 

beautiful  flower.  Let  this  be  a  parable  of 
what  I  mean  by  the  church  invisible,  re- 
taining still  its  hidden  potencies. 

It  would  be  well  for  those  who  stigmatize 
the  Christian  religion  as  being  opposed  to 
progress  and  invention,  to  remember  that 
Wiclif,  the  morning  star  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, had  arisen;  that  Huss  had  aroused  his 
countrymen  to  intense  activity  of  thought 
and  to  religious  reform,  before  printing  was 
invented;  that  Luther  had  nailed  his  ninety- 
five  theses  to  the  castle  church  door  in  Wit- 
tenberg before  there  was  a  telescope  or  a 
microscope.  Before  there  was  a  post  office 
system  in  England  or  a  carriage  on  springs 
in  Paris ;  before  James  Watt  and  Arkwright 
were  born,  these  great  religious  awakenings 
had  taken  place  in  Europe.  Here,  as  al- 
ways, spiritual  truth  has  gone  in  advance 
of  science  in  its  work  of  rousing  the  mind 
to  action. 

It  is  also  in  keeping  with  fairness  and 
truth  if  I  say  that  during  the  nineteenth 
century  very  many  of  the  scientists  of  the 
first  rank  in  all  departments  of  the  natural 
sciences  were  at  the  same  time  devout 
Roman  Catholics.  Direct  antagonisms  on 
the  part  of  the  clergy  against  scientific  dis- 
covery are  comparatively  few,  notwithstand- 
ing the  insinuation  by  some,  tending  to 
convey  the  impression  that  discover}-  in  sci- 
ence has  usually  in  all  ages  been  opposed 


206  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

by  the  clergy.  There  is  no  foundation  for 
this ;  or  at  most,  it  is  a  gross  exaggeration. 
The  one  illustration  which  we  have  heard 
since  we  sat  on  the  rude  bench  in  the  little 
red  school  house  at  the  cross-roads,  is 
Galileo  and  his  doctrine  of  the  antipodes. 
Dr.  Draper,  in  the  ''Conflict  Between  Re- 
ligion and  Science,"  does  not  seem  to  realize 
that  there  has  always  been  a  greater  con- 
flict; viz.,  that  between  Scientist  and  Sci- 
entist. For  it  is  a  fact  very  evident  to  those 
who  know  history,  that  scientific  discov- 
eries have  met  with  more  opposition  from 
the  students  of  natural  science  themselves 
than  from  all  the  theologians  the  world 
over. 

Copernicus,  in  the  dedication  to  Pope 
Paul  III.,  of  his  work,  "Concerning  the 
Revolution  of  the  Heavenly  Orbs,"  says, 
that  he  had  kept  his  book  four  times  the 
nine  years  required  by  Horace  because  he 
knew  how  absurd  his  doctrine  would  ap- 
pear; and  Whewell  adds:  "It  will  be  ob- 
served that  he  speaks  of  the  opposition  of 
the  established  school  of  astronomers,  not 
of  divines."  The  theory  did  encounter  great 
opposition  from  astronomers,  as  Copernicus 
had  anticipated.  Scientific  men  were  slow 
to  accept  it.  Lord  Bacon  rejected  it  to  the 
end  of  his  life.  And  mark  this,  if  you  please! 
Whewell  adds :  "Perhaps  the  works  of  the 
celebrated    Bishop    Wilkins — a    clergyman, 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  207 

you  will  observe — tended  more  than  any- 
other  to  the  diffusion  of  the  Copernican  sys- 
tem in  England."  And  Wilkins'  book  was 
published  in  1638  and  1640,  nearly  a  hun- 
dred years  after  Copernicus  had  published 
his  system. 

Huygens,  Bernouilli,  Cassini,  Leibnitz, 
and  others,  the  most  distinguished  physi- 
cists and  philosophers  of  the  close  of  the 
seventeenth  and  the  beginning  of  the 
eighteenth  centuries,  opposed  Sir  Isaac 
Newton's  system  of  gravitation.  Dr.  Jen- 
ner's  discovery  of  vaccination  was  opposed 
and  denounced  by  physicians.  The  anti- 
phlogistic controversy  against  those  who 
recognized  the  discovery  of  oxygen  was 
long  and  bitter. 

A  century  after  the  discovery  of  microbes 
had  been  made  by  Swammerdam  and  Lee- 
wenhoeck,  the  Academy  of  Paris  (scien- 
tific) attempted  to  overthrow  it  with  a 
sneer!  "One  can  generally  see,"  said  they, 
"with  the  microscope  whatever  one  imag- 
ines." Aubry  says  of  Harvey's  discovery 
of  the  circulation  of  the  blood :  ''After  Har- 
vey's book,  'Of  the  Circulation  of  the 
Blood,'  came  out,  he  fell  mightily  in  his 
practice,  and  it  was  believed  by  the  vulgar 
that  he  was  crack-brained.  And  after  his 
discovery  was  accepted  in  England,  it  was 
still  opposed  abroad." 

As  regards  Geology,  H.  S.  Williams,  in 


208  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

his  story  of  Nineteenth-Century  Science, 
says,  that  a  great  controversy  was  waged 
between  the  two  schools  (of  scientists  as- 
suredly) known  as  Neptunists  and  Pluto- 
nists,  headed  by  Werner  and  Hutton  re- 
spectively. Williams  says :  "The  history  of 
geology  during  our  first  quarter-century  is 
mainly  a  recital  of  the  intemperate  contro- 
versy between  these  opposing  schools." 

The  same  author  says  concerning  Chem- 
istry: "Of  all  the  contests  that  were  waged 
in  the  various  fields  of  science  in  this 
iconoclastic  epoch,  perhaps  the  fiercest  and 
most  turbulent  was  that  which  fell  within 
the  field  of  chemistry.  Indeed,  this  was  one 
of  the  most  memorable  warfares  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  polemics."  The  main  point  at 
issue  was  the  old  doctrine  of  phlogiston  and 
the  antiphlogistic  movement  championed 
by  Lavoisier  with  the  help  of  Priest- 
ley's discovery  of  oxgyen.  Williams  says : 
Lavoisier  "fell  by  the  guillotine,  a  victim 
not  only  of  the  'Reign  of  Terror,'  but  like- 
wise a  victim  of  national  frenzy."  At  Ber- 
lin the  scientists  began  by  burning  the 
French  reform  leader  in  effigy,  but  soon 
ended  by  accepting  the  new  theories.  In 
England  the  fight  was  more  stubborn.  This 
conflict,  you  will  note,  was  between  sci- 
entist and  scientist. 

The  real  point  of  interest  in  this  contest, 
however,    for   those    who     think     that   the 


x\ND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  209 

clergy  has  stood  in  the  way  of  progress  in 
science,  is,  of  course,  the  fact  that  Dr. 
Joseph  Priestley,  an  ordained  minister,  was 
the  discoverer  of  oxygen,  and  thus  made 
possble  for  Lavosier  the  new  chemistry. 
Furthermore,  a  generation  later,  Davy  said 
of  this  preacher  that  "no  other  person  ever 
discovered  so  many  new  and  curious  sub- 
stances as  he." 

Yes,  the  conflicts  above  alluded  to,  and 
many,  many  others,  were  conflicts  between 
scientist  and  scientist.  And  this  is  the  rule 
which  obtains  where  there  has  been  opposi- 
tion to  the  advancement  of  science ;  viz., 
that  the  conflict  has  been  between  opposing 
schools  of  science,  so  that  clergymen  may 
well  say,  as  Aesop's  wolf  did  when  he  saw 
the  shepherds  eating  a  lamb,  ''If  I  had  done 
this  what  an  outcry  would  have  been  heard!" 

(b)  The  Greatest  Scientists  Were  Religious 

Men. 

In  modern  times  the  greatest  scientists 
were,  without  doubt,  devout  men.  Hear 
them  6peak,  and  then  answer  the  ques- 
tion. Were  they  opposed  to  religion?  Hear 
Carl  Von  Linne,  the  father  of  Botany  and 
the  son  of  a  Lutheran  Vicar — listen  to  his 
voice  raised  amid  his  researches  among  the 
Flora:  "God,  the  eternal,  omniscient,  I  have 
seen  from  behind  the  flora  as  He  passed  by 
— and  I  stood  in  awe." 


210  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

Sir  Isaac  Newton  records  his  testimony 
at  the  close  of  the  Principia :  "This  beautiful 
system  of  sun,  planets  and  comets  could 
have  its  origin  in  no  other  way  than  as  the 
purpose  and  at  the  command  of  an  intelli- 
gent and  powerful  Being.  He  governs  all 
things,  not  as  the  soul  of  the  world,  but  as 
the  Lord  of  the  universe.  He  is  not  only 
God,  but  Lord  or  Governor.  We  know  Him 
only  by  His  property  and  attributes,  by  the 
wise  and  admirable  structure  of  things 
around  us,  and  by  their  final  causes ;  we  ad- 
mire Him  on  account  of  His  perfections,  we 
venerate  and  worship  Him  on  account  of 
His  goodness." 

Sir  Humphrey  Davy  (scientist)  said:  *'I 
envy  no  quality  of  mind  or  intellect  in 
others,  be  it  genius,  power,  wit,  or  fancy; 
but  if  I  could  choose  what  would  be  most 
delightful,  and  I  believe  most  useful  to  me, 
I  should  prefer  a  firm  religious  belief  to 
every  blessing ;  for  it  makes  life  a  discipline 
in  goodness,  creates  new  hopes  when  all 
earthly  hopes  vanish,  throws  over  the  decay 
and  the  destruction  of  existence,  the  most 
gorgeous  of  all  light,  awakens  life  in  death, 
and  from  corruption  and  decay  calls  up 
beauty  and  divinity." 

Listen  again  to  the  rapt  devotion  of 
Kepler,  with  which  he  closes  The  Har- 
monies of  the  Universe :  "Thou  who  by  the 
light  of  nature  hast  kindled  in  us  the  long- 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  211 

ing  after  the  light  of  Thy  grace,  in  order  to 
raise  us  to  the  light  of  Thy  glory,  I  give 
thanks  to  Thee,  Creator  and  Lord,  that  thou 
hast  given  me  delight  in  thy  creation,  and 
that  I  have  exulted  in  the  works  of  Thy 
hands.  I  have  completed  the  work  which  I 
proposed,  with  such  force  of  intellect  as 
Thou  hast  given  me.  I  have  manifested  the 
glory  of  Thy  works  to  the  men  w^ho  will 
read  these  demonstrat'ons,  so  far  as  my  lim- 
ited mind  can  comprehend  Thine  infinitude. 
If  I,  a  worm  and  a  sinner,  have  set  forth 
anything  unw'orthy  of  Thy  counsels,  in- 
spire me  to  correct  it  and  to  set  forth  what 
Thou  wouldst  have  me  know.  If  by  the 
admirable  beauty  of  Thy  works,  I  have  been 
hurried  into  any  rashness,  if  I  have  sought 
mine  own  glory  among  men  while  prose- 
cuting a  work  intended  for  Thy  glory, 
wilt  Thou,  gentle  and  compassionate  one, 
forgive.  And  deign  propitiously  to  cause 
that  these  demonstrations  may  promote 
Thy  glory  and  the  welfare  of  men.  Praise 
ye  the  Lord,  ye  heavenly  harmonies;  and 
ye  that  understand  the  new  harmonies, 
praise  ye  the  Lord.  Praise  God,  O  my  soul, 
as  long  as  I  live.  From  Him,  through  Him, 
and  in  Him  is  all  the  material,  as  well  as 
the  spiritual;  all  that  we  know,  and  all  that 
we  do  not  know  as  yet,  for  there  is  much 
to  do  that  is  yet  undone." 

Hear  also    Lord   Bacon   in   this   choir   of 


212  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

kingly  worshipers  :  "Thou,  therefore,  Father, 
who  gavest  the  visible  light  as  the  first 
fruits  of  the  creation,  and  at  the  completion 
of  Thy  works  didst  inspire  the  countenance 
of  man  with  intellectual  light,  guard  and 
direct  this  work,  which  proceeding  from 
Thy  bounty  seeks  in  return  Thy  glory.  If 
we  labor  in  Thy  works.  Thou  wilt  make  us 
partakers  of  Thy  vision  and  Thy  Sabbath. 
We  pray  that  this  mind  may  abide  in  us ; 
and  that  by  our  hands  and  the  hands  of 
others  to  whom  Tliou  shalt  impart  the  same 
mind,  Thou  wilt  be  pleased  to  endow  with 
new  gifts  the  family  of  man." 

Perhaps  it  will  interest  us  more  to  know 
the  attitude  to  the  Scriptures  and  the  Chris- 
tianity of  the  leading  Scientists  of  the  nine- 
teenth century.  You  may  want  the  facts 
up  to  date,  and  so  I  will  call  the  roll  of 
honor  and  let  them  speak. 

The  first  general  statement  of  the  law  of 
the  Conservation  of  Energy  we  owe  to  the 
German  scientist,  Robert  Mayer,  a  Protes- 
tant. In  1891  Tyndall  wrote:  "No  greater 
genius  than  Mayer  has  appeared  in  our 
country."  This  same  great  scientist  (when 
on  a  voyage)  wrote  to  his  parents,  "I  will 
ofifer  up  under  all  skies  incessant  prayers  to 
the  Almighty  that  He  may  keep  my  be- 
loved parents  safe  and  well."  At  the  end 
of  the  voyage:  *T  waved  on  high  my  Bible 
and   my  hymn-book,   for  which,     before  all 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  213 

Other  books,  I  had  longed."  "My  early 
feeling  (said  he  at  another  time)  that  sci- 
entific truths  are  to  the  Christian  religion 
much  what  brooks  and  rivers  are  to  the 
ocean,  has  become  my  most  vital  convic- 
tion." At  another  time  he  quotes  Matt. 
10:32  in  defense  of  his  religious  testimonies. 
"Whosoever  therefore  shall  confess  me  be- 
fore men,  him  will  I  confess  also  before  my 
Father  which  is  in  heaven." 

William  Thompson,  (Lord  Kelvin)  a 
Protestant,  was,  says  Von  Helmholtz,  "at 
the  age  of  thirty-one,  one  of  the  first  mathe- 
matical physicists  in  Europe."  He  is  the 
author  of  more  than  three  hundred  im- 
portant works,  and  the  father  of  the  theory 
of  vortex  rings.  Having  in  mind  the  lesser 
lights  who  advocated  materialistic  evolu- 
tion, this  great  luminary  said:  "Science 
positively  affirms  creative  power.  Science 
makes  everyone  feel  a  miracle  in  himself." 
(London  Times,  May,  1903.)  And  again: 
"If  you  think  strongly  enough,  you  will  be 
forced  by  science  to  believe  in  God,  which 
is  the  foundation  of  all  religion.  You  will 
find  science  not  antagonistic,  but  helpful  to 
religion."   (-'Nineteenth  Century"  for  June, 

1903-) 

Allow  me  to  call  attention  briefly  to  the 
mathematicians.  I  should  at  least  mention 
the  name  and  one  fact  of  Euler  (Protes- 
tant,) though  he  belongs  to  the  eighteenth 


214  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

century.  He  wrote  a  book  entitled  "De- 
fense of  Revelation  against  the  Objections 
of  the  Freethinkers." 

Karl  Frederick  Gauss  (Protestant)  was 
one  of  the  foremost  mathematicians  of  all 
time.  Of  him,  his  biographer  says:  "The  in- 
destructible idea  of  personal  survival  after 
death,  the  steadfast  belief  which  he  had  in 
a  Supreme  Ruler,  a  just,  eternal,  omniscient, 
omnipotent  God,  formed  the  foundation  of 
his  religious  life,  and  in  unison  with  his 
matchless  scientific  achievements  formed  a 
perfect  harmony." 

Cauchy  (Catholic),  the  greatest  mathe- 
matician of  his  day  in  France,  made  this 
confession :  "I  am  a  Christian ;  that  is  to 
say,  I  believe  in  the  Div'nty  of  Jesus  as  did 
Tycho-Brahe,  Copernicus,  Newton,  Leib- 
nitz, Euler — as  did  all  the  great  astrono- 
mers, physicists  and  geometricians  of  past 
ages.'' 

Of  Victor  Puiseaux  (Catholic,)  the  suc- 
cessor to  Cauchy,  Gilbert  testifies  that  he 
was  a  man  of  profound  religious  conv'c- 
tions.  Reiman  (Protestant,)  regarded  daily 
self-examination  in  the  presence  of  God  as 
one  of  the  elements  of  religion.  Herman 
Grassmann  (Protestant),  described  by 
Cantor  and  Leskien  as  "one  of  the  most 
remarkable  mathematicians  of  our  time," 
was  a  loyal  Christian;  was  much  inter- 
ested in  Foreign  Missions,  and  left  behind 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  215 

him  a  work  which  bears  the  title  "On  the 
Decay  of  Belief." 

Concerning  LaPlace  it  is  well  to  mention 
that  there  is  an  anecdote  which  relates  that 
when    he    presented    one    of    his    works   to 
Napoleon,  the  latter  said:  "Newton  in  his 
work   speaks  of  God.     In  yours   I   find  no 
mention   of   God."      To   which    LaPlace   is 
said  to  have  replied:   'T   find  no   need  for 
that  hypothesis."  Now  let  us,  for  a  moment, 
suppose  that  LaPlace  did  use  such  words 
(though  I  doubt  it),  it  does  not  follow  that 
he  was  aa  atheist."     It  would  simply  mean 
that  he  contrasted  his  theory  with  that  of 
Newton ;  in  this  view  of  the  case,  it  is  nec- 
essary only  to  bear  in  mind  the  points  on 
which   he   was   at  variance  with   the  great 
Englishman  in  order  to  grasp  the  sense  of 
the    epigram.      At    the    sight    of    so    many 
planets  and  worlds,  Newton  had  given  way 
to   the   fear  that   these   countless,   intricate 
movements  of  orbs  must  result  at  last  in 
confusion,    and    that    the    intervention    of 
God   from   time   to  time   was   necessary  to 
obviate    this    confusion.      But    one    of    the 
greatest  achievements  of  LaPlace  was  pre- 
cisely  his   proof  that   such   intervention   is 
unnecessary.     He  showed  by  mathematical 
calculation   that  such   confusion   can   never 
occur.     If  LaPlace  did  reply  in  the  words 
contained  in  the  anecdotes,  he  by  no  means 
necessarily  intended  to  deny  the  existence 


216  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

of  God,  but  probably  only  meant  to  assert 
that  the  intervention  of  God  was  not  neces- 
sary to  prevent  the  collision  of  worlds.  It 
is  true  that  LaPlace  cannot  be  held  up  as  a 
model  in  religion.  It  is  worthy  of  note, 
however,  that  he  was  never  in  his  own 
estimate  a  materialist.  J.  B.  Dumas  says 
that  the  great  mathematician  commissioned 
Arago  to  see  to  it  that  his  biography  should 
not  represent  him  as  an  atheist,  but  as  a 
believer,  and  adds  that  when  he  came  to  die, 
he  sent  for  a  priest  and  devoted  himself  to 
settling  his  accounts  with  heaven. 

Let  me  now  cite  a  few  examples  from 
among  the  chemists.  Klaproth,  the  chemist 
(Protestant),  was  a  ''profoundly  religious 
man."  Chevreul,  the  chemist,  said :  "Those 
who  know  me,  know  that,  born  a  Catholic 
and  of  Christian  parents,  I  live  and  wish  to 
die  a  Catholic."  Schoenbein  (Protestant) 
said :  "Yes !  everything  in  nature  reveals  a 
God  whose  wisdom  and  power  humble  our 
pride ;  for  in  His  works  we  have  learned  to 
know  and  to  worship  Him."  Berzelius, 
Dumas,  Leibeg,  Chevreul,  one  and  all, 
opposed  materialism.  Wurtz,  Friedel, 
Dalton  and  Henry,  were  all  Protestant 
Christians. 

Dumas,  for  thirty  years  the  leading 
French  chemist,  was  a  devout  Catholic,  and 
Lavoisier  (Catholic)  "died  in  the  Christian 
faith."    Karl  Fresenius,  a  Protestant,  whose 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  217 

hand-book  of  quantitive  analysis  ran  to 
sixteen  editions  in  German  and  was  trans- 
lated not  only  into  every  European 
language,  but  even  into  Chinese,  was  as 
enthusiastic  in  religion  as  in  science.  Henri 
Devill  ''remained  faithful  all  his  life  to  the 
religion  of  his  boyhood  and  died  in  its 
bosom." 

Karl  Ritter  who  made  geograph}^  a 
science,  was  a  Protestant  Christian.  F.  M. 
Maury,  master  of  Physical  Geography,  was 
a  Protestant  Christian.  D'Abbadie  was  a 
zealous  Catholic.  Hausmann  was  a  Protec- 
tant Christian.  Buckland  and  Conybeare 
were  ministers  of  the  Anglican  Church.  G. 
Von  Roth  and  H.  Von  Dechen  were 
Protestant  Christians. 

Among  the  men  who  in  the  nineteenth 
century  did  great  things  in  Physiology, 
Zoology,  Embryology,  and  Botany,  we 
name  the  following  who  w^re  Protestant 
Christians:  Cuvier,  Wagner,  Volkmann, 
Spiess,  Ruete,  Flourens,  Bell,  Simpson, 
Dana,  Braun,  Von  Martins;  while  Laennec, 
Carnoy,  Pasteur,  Bernard  and  J.  Mueller 
(the  Cuvier  of  Germany)  were  Roman 
Catholic  Christians. 

Among  all  the  scientists  of  the  nineteenth 
century  Pasteur  ranks  supreme  as  a  bene- 
factor to  mankind.  It  is  far  under  the  truth 
to  say  that  he  has  saved  more  lives  than 
Napoleon  destroyed.     Pasteur's    faith    was 


218  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

as  genuine  as  his  science.  He  wrote  at  one 
time:  "Happy  the  man  who  bears  within 
him  a  divinity,  an  ideal  of  beauty  and  obeys 
it;  an  ideal  of  art,  an  ideal  of  science,  an 
ideal  of  country,  an  ideal  of  the  virtues  of 
the  gospel."     (The  Catholic  Encyclopaedia.) 

Christian  G.  Ehrenberg  (Protestant) 
won  his  reputation  in  the  sphere  of  the 
infinitely  small.  Kings  and  princes  sum- 
moned him  and  his  microscope.  He 
conceived  nature  as  ordered  by  the  reason- 
able, purposive  laws  of  the  conscious 
Creator.     (Teleological  Interpretation.) 

Louis  Agassiz  (Protestant)  wrote:  'The 
animal  kingdom  is  the  visible  manifes- 
tation of  the  thought  of  God.  Since  man 
has  been  created  in  the  image  of  God,  he 
can  lift  himself  up  to  the  conception  of  the 
Divine  plan  in  creation."  Referring  to  God, 
he  called  Him  *'the  same  Being  that  proph- 
esied that  the  Son  of  the  Virgin  should 
crush  the  head  of  the  serpent." 

Alfred  Russell  Wallace  says :  "We  thus 
find  that  the  Darwinian  theory,  even  when 
carried  out  to  its  extreme  logical  conclu- 
sions, not  only  does  not  oppose,  but  lends  a 
decided  support  to,  a  belief  in  the  spiritual 
nature  of  man.  It  shows  us  how  man's 
body  may  have  been  developed  from  that 
of  a  lower  animal  form  under  the  law  of 
natural  selection ;  but  it  also  teaches 
us      that      we      possess      intellectual      and 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  219 

moral  faculties  which  could  not 
have  been  so  developed,  but  must 
have  had  another  origin ;  and  for  this 
origin  we  can  only  find  an  adequate  cause 
in  the  unseen  universe  of  Spirit." 

At  one  of  the  morning  prayer  services  at 
Northfield  Lady  Hope,  a  consecrated 
English  woman,  told  the  remarkable  story 
printed  here.  Later  Lady  Hope  wrote  the 
story  out  for  the  "Watchman-Examiner." 
It  will  give  to  the  world  a  new  view  of 
Charles  Darwin.  "It  was  one  of  those  glo- 
rious autumn  afternoons,  that  we  sometimes 
enjoy  in  England,  when  I  was  asked  to  go 
in  and  sit  with  the  Well-known  professor, 
Charles  Darwin.  He  was  almost  bed-ridden 
for  some  months  before  he  died.  I  used  to 
feel  when  I  saw  him  that  his  fine  presence 
would  make  a  grand  picture  for  our  royal 
academy;  but  never  did  I  think  so  more 
strongly   than   on   this   particular  occasion. 

He  was  sitting  up  in  bed  wearing  a  soft 
embroidered  dressing  gown,  of  rather  a  rich 
purple  shade.  Propped  up  by  pillows,  he 
was  gazing  out  on  a  far-stretching  scene  of 
woods  and  cornfields,  which  glowed  in  the 
light  of  one  of  those  marvelous  sunsets 
which  are  the  beauty  of  Kent  and  Surrey. 
His  noble  forehead  and  fine  features 
seemed  to  be  lit  up  with  pleasure  as  I 
entered  the  room.  He  waved  his  hand 
toward  the  window  as  he  pointed  out  the 


220  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

scene  beyond,  while  in  the  other  hand  he 
held  an  open  Bible,  which  he  was  always 
studying. 

''What  are  you  reading  now?"  I  asked  as 
I  seated  myself  by  his  bedside. 

''Hebrews !"  he  answered — still  Hebrews. 
'The  Royal  Book,'  I  call  it.    Isn't  it  grand?" 

Then  placing  his  finger  on  certain  pas- 
sages, he  commented  on  them. 

I  made  some  allusion  to  the  strong 
opinions  expressed  by  many  persons  on  the 
history  of  the  Creation,  its  grandeur,  and 
then  their  treatment  of  the  earlier  chapters 
of  the  book  of  Genesis. 

He  seemed  greatly  distressed,  his  fingers 
twitched  nervously,  and  a  look  of  agony 
came  over  his  face  as  he  said :  *T  was  a 
young  man  with  unformed  ideas.  I  threw 
out  queries,  suggestions,  wondering  all  the 
time  over  everything,  and  to  my  astonish- 
ment the  ideas  took  like  wildfire.  People 
made  religion  of  them. 

Then  he  paused,  and  after  a  few  more 
sentences  on  "the  holiness  of  God"  and 
"the  grandeur  of  this  book,"  looking  at  the 
Bible  which  he  was  holding  tenderly  all 
the  time,  he  suddenly  said: 

'T  have  a  summer  house  in  the  garden, 
which  holds  about  thirty  people.  It  is  over 
there,"  pointing  through  the  open  window. 
*T  want  you  very  much  to  speak  there.  I 
know  you  read  the   Bible  in   the   villages. 


^ 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  221 

Tomorrow  afternoon  I  should  like  the  ser- 
vants on  the  place,  some  tenants  and  a  few 
of  the  neighbors  to  gather  there.  Will  you 
speak  to  them?" 

"What  shall  I  speak  about?"  I  asked. 
''Christ  Jesus!"  he  replied  in  a  clear, 
emphatic  voice,  adding  in  a  lower  tone, 
**and  his  salvation.  Is  not  that  the  best 
theme  ?  And  then  I  want  you  to  sing  some 
hymns  with  them.  You  lead  on  your  small 
instrument,  do  you  not?" 

The  wonderful  look  of  brightness  and 
animation  on  his  face  as  he  said  this  I  shall 
never  forget,  for  he  added:  'Tf  you  take 
the  meeting  at  three  o'clock,  this  window 
will  be  open  and  you  will  know  that  I  am 
joining  in  with  the  singing." 

J.  Hanstein  (Protestant),  a  Botanist  of 
Bonn,  said  that  organic  life  becomes  intel- 
ligible only  when  interpreted  teleologically. 
J.  W.  A.  Wiegand  (Protestant),  the  great 
Botanist,  was  also  a  fervent  Christian.  F. 
Von  Fueller  (Protestant),  a  Botanist,  made 
it  a  practice  to  enrich  his  works  with  care- 
fully chosen  Latin  mottoes,  commonly 
drawn  from  the  Bible,  declaring  the  glory 
of  the  Almighty  as  manifested  in  creation. 
Max  Westerm'aier  (Protestant),  says  in 
1903 :  "The  reward  set  on  a  true  knowledge 
of  the  physical  universe  is  no  other  and  no 
less  than  a  true  knowledge  of  God.  This 
path  to  God  is  open  to  all  men,  even  to  those 


222  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

who  have  never  heard  of  Christ  or  Chris- 
tianity, an<d  all  reasonable  men  must 
perceive  and  pursue  it." 

I  need  not  tell  you  what  Volta,  Ampere, 
Ohm,  and  Galvani  did  in  the  domain  of 
electricity.  They  were  all  devout  Chris- 
tians! Faraday,  "the  greatest  experimental 
philosopher  the  world  has  ever  seen,"  was 
one  of  the  most  pious  Protestant  Christians. 
Stokes,  Maxwell,  and  Lord  Kelvin  won  for 
the  Cambridge  School  of  Physics  the  repu- 
tation which  it  still  enjoys.  The  Encyclo- 
pedia Britannica  (1902)  ranks  them  as  the 
three  greatest  physicists  of  the  day.  They 
were  all  devout  Protestant  Christians. 

Sir  William  Crooks,  one  of  the  world's 
greatest  chemists  of  the  day,  writes :  "I 
cannot  imagine  the  possibility  of  anyone 
with  ordinary  intelligence  entertaining  the 
least  doubt  as  to  the  existence  of  a  God — 
a  Law-Giver  and  a  Life-Giver/* 

Sir  Oliver  Lodge,  perhaps  the  greatest 
living  physicist  and  certainly  an  earnest 
believer,  writes:  ''The  tendency  of  science, 
whatever  it  is,  is  certainly  not  in  an  irrelig- 
ious direction  at  the  present  time." 

Sir  George  Stokes,  the  great  physicist, 
(died  1903)  affirmed  his  belief  that  dis- 
believers among  men  of  science  form  a  very 
small  minority;  and  Sir  James  Geikie,  dean 
of  the  faculty  of  science  at  Edinburgh  Uni- 
versity, impatiently  writes :  'Tt  is  simply  an 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  223 

impertinence  to  say  that  the  leading  scien- 
tists are  irreligious  or  anti-Christians.  Such 
a  statement  could  only  be  made  by  some 
scatter-brained  chatter-box  or  zealous 
fanatic." 

In  their  zeal  for  their  specialized  work 
religion  is  often  simply  crowded  out  of  their 
lives. 

Guglio  Marconi,  whom  every  boy  knOws 
as  an  inventor  of  wireless  telegraphy,  is  a 
loyal  member  of  the  Waldensian  (Protes- 
tant) Church.  The  two  Herschels,  the 
greatest  astronomers  of  all  time,  were  very 
consistent  Protestant  Christians.  Leverrier 
(a  Protestant)  said  that  the  study  of  the 
heavens  had  only  deepened  his  living  faith 
in  Christianity.  Harve  Fae  writes  much  to 
show  the  agreement  of  science  and  the  Old 
Testament  Cosmogony.  He  says  that  the 
study  of  Astronomy  leads  to  a  recognition 
of  God.  Many  Catholics  rendered  great 
service  in  this  branch  of  science  during  the 
nineteenth,  as  in  former  centuries. 

As  concerns  the  attitude  of  Geologists 
toward  the  subject  of  religion,  I  will  say 
that  the  great  mass  of  those  of  the  first  rank 
in  the  last  century  were  not  at  variance  with 
it,  but  on  the  contrary  found  it  their  chief 
joy  to  point  out  the  harmony  that  existed 
between  the  Bible  of  Nature  and  the  Bible 
of  Grace.  Hundreds  have  referred  to  this 
fact  and  many  have  written  entire  volumes 


524  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

on  this  subject.  For  example,  De  Luc 
(1817),  George  Cuvier  (1813),  MacCulloch 
{1835),  Von  Fuchs  (1856),  Buckland 
(1856),  Hugh  Miller  (1856),  De  Serres 
(1862),  Hitchcock  (1864),  Pfoff  (1886), 
Dana  (1895),  Dawson  (1899),  Waagen 
(1900),  Kinns  (1881),  Rentsch  1910, 
Wright  (1907),  etc.,  etc. 

To  save  space  and  yet  to  accumulate 
facts  bearing  on  this  point,  I  will  add  also, 
that  at  the  time  of  the  meeting  of  the  British 
Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science, 
in  1865,  a  manifesto  was  drawn  up  and 
signed  by  six  hundred  and  seventeen  scien- 
tific men,  (many  of  whom  were  of  the 
highest  eminence)  in  which  they  declare 
their  belief  not  only  in  the  truth  and  author- 
ity of  the  Bible  of  Grace,  but  also  in  its 
harmony  with  the  Bible  of  Nature.  This 
manifesto  was  printed  with  the  signatures 
attached,  and  the  original  document  depos- 
ited in  the  Bodleian  Library  at  Oxford.  It 
is  as  follows:  "We,  the  undersigned, 
students  of  the  Natural  Sciences,  desire  to 
express  our  sincere  regret  that  researches 
into  scientific  truth  are  perverted  by  some  in 
our  own  times  into  occasions  for  casting 
doubt  upon  the  truth  and  authenticity  of 
the  Holy  Scriptures.  We  conceive  that  it 
is  impossible  for  the  Word  of  God  as  writ- 
ten in  the  Book  of  Nature,  and  God's  Word 
written    in    Holy    Scripture,    to    contradict 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  225 

each  other,  however  much  they  may  appear 
to  differ."  Among  the  list  of  signers  of  the 
above  manifesto,  I  find  such  names  as  Sir 
David  Brewster,  in  the  case  of  whom  no 
less  than  eleven  lines  of  the  volume  are 
required  to  enumerate  his  literary  an^ 
scientific  titles.  Here  we  have  the  united 
testimony  of  more  than  six  hundred  men, 
skilled  in  science,  telling  us  of  the  harmony 
of  Revelation  as  it  is  written  in  the  Bible 
of  Nature  and  in  the  Bible  of  Grace. 

Must,  then,  the  science  of  the  nineteenth 
century  and  of  the  centuries  preceding,  be 
regarded,  as  a  whole,  as  hostile  to,  and  in 
conflict  with,  the  Christian  religion?  Has 
there  been  such  great  hostility,  as  is  often 
portrayed  in  anti-Christian  journals,  be- 
tVv'een  Christianity  and  men  of  science? 
Why,  I  ask,  should  there  be  need  of  it  when 
great  men  of  science  such  as  we  have  named 
have  themselves  been  on  the  side  of  the 
Revealed  Word,  and  who  with  the  Bible  of 
Nature  at  their  command  have  ever  wielded 
that  mighty  weapon  in  its  defence? 

It  is  perfectly  true  that  in  many  of  the 
universities  at  home  and  abroad  professors 
can  be  found  who  are  materialists,  and  not 
Christians.  It  is  true  that  men  like 
Virschow,  Tyndal,  and  DuBoise  Reymond 
can  be  found  upon  the  side  of  unbelief,  but 
that  does  not  disannul  what  I  have  desired 
to  show.     When  a  disciple  of  the  school  of 


226     .  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATUR^ 

Elea  had  proven  conclusively  to  another 
Greek  philosopher  that  the  idea  of  motion 
is  self-contradictory,  and  that,  consequently, 
motion  is  impossible,  his  hearer  replied,  not 
by  argument,  but  by  simply  walking  up 
and  down.  We  have  tried  to  use  the  same 
method  by  quoting  the  confessions  of  many 
great  scientists  to  show^  that  science  and 
religion  are  not  at  variance — that  there  is 
no  need  of  conflict  as  alleged. 

We  are  not  forgetful  that  physical  science 
is  not  complete,  but  is  only  in  condition  of 
progress,  and  that  at  present  our  finite 
reason  enables  us  to  see  only  as  through  a 
glass  darkly;  but  we  confidently  believe 
that  a  time  will  come  when  the  two  records 
will  be  seen  to  agree  in  every  particular, 
and  we  cannot  but  deplore  that  natural 
science  should  be  looked  upon  with  sus- 
picion by  many  who  do  not  make  a  study 
of  it,  merely  on  account  of  the  unadvised 
manner  in  which  some  are  placing  it  in 
opposition  to  Holy  writ.  We  believe  that 
it  is  the  duty  of  every  scientific  student  to 
investigate  nature  simply  for  the  purpose  of 
elucidating  truth,  and  if  he  finds  that  some 
of  his  results  appear  to  be  in  contradiction 
to  the  written  word,  or  rather  to  his  own 
interpretation  of  it,  which  may  be  erroneous, 
he  should  not  presumptuously  affirm  that 
his  own  conclusion  must  be  right  and  the 
statements  of  Scripture  wrong.     Rather  let 


AND  THE  BIBLE  OF  GRACE  227 

the  two  stand  side  by  side  until  it  shall 
please  God  to  allow  us  to  see  the  manner 
in  which  they  may  be  reconciled ;  and  in- 
stead of  insisting  upon  the  seeming 
differences  between  science  and  the  scrip- 
tures, it  would  be  as  well  to  rest  in  faith 
uiion  the  points  in  which  they  agree. 

There  is  a  difference,  of  course,  between 
men  of  notoriety  and  men  of  great  scientific 
attainment.  Just  as  falsehood  always 
travels  at  a  much  greater  speed  than  truth, 
so  also  the  scientific  apostles  of  unbelief 
possess,  in  a  much  fuller  measure  than  their 
Christian  colleagues,  the  faculty  of  getting 
themselves  talked  about.  The  former  con- 
stitute the  whirlwind  and  the  storm;  the 
latter,  the  still,  small  voice.  Everybody  in 
Germany  knows  the  names  of  Haeckel  and 
Karl  Voght,  and  everybody  in  England 
knows  the  names  of  Tyndal  and  Huxley, 
and  everybody  in  America  knows  the  names 
of  Ingersoll  and  Paine.  These  are  men  of 
notoriety — because  they  were  storm-centers 
of  controversy  between  scientist  and  scien- 
tist. Many  who  far  excelled  them  as 
scientists  are  not  known,  and  in  the 
accounts  of  their  lives  in  encyclopaedias 
and  elsewhere,  we  seek  in  vain  for  the 
slightest  references  to  their  attitude  to 
religion.  Although  we  are  certain  that  by 
far  the  greater  number  of  the  really  great 
scientists  of  the  centuries    were  men    whose 


228  THE  BIBLE  OF  NATURE 

convictions  were  in  accord  with  the  prin- 
ciples of  Christianity,  it  has  not  been  our 
aim  to  be  concerned  about  numbers.  We 
were  concerned,  however,  to  inquire 
whether  the  great  masters  found  anything 
in  their  science  to  turn  them  from  the 
Christian  religion,  and  we  were  likewise 
rejoiced  to  learn  that  where  infidelity  did 
exist,  it  existed  from  other  causes  than  that 
of  real  facts  attained  by  empirical  methods. 
What  a  contrast  between  the  depth  and 
height  of  the  religious  sentiments  of  these 
mighty  men  of  science  and  philosophy,  and 
the  flippancy  and  superficiality  of  some  of 
the  would-be  scientists  of  our  day !  When 
in  the  history  of  the  natural  sciences  we 
observe  that  the  greatest  minds  incorporate 
such  sentiments  into  their  scientific  treatise, 
as  we  have  quoted  above,  we  have  good 
reasons  to  know  that  there  is  no  conflict 
between  true  science  and  the  knowledge  and 
worship  of  God. 

The  End. 


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